Come What May
by sanood
Summary: A sequel to Catch a Falling Star. What happens after the "happily ever after." Not a stand alone story. Reading Catch a Falling Star and What About the Wolf is strongly recommended. Rated M for a little romance and two low key swear words.
1. What Happens Next?

Come What May (A sequel to Catch a Falling Star)

A/N: All characters from Inu Yasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. All other characters belong to me.

***I highly recommend that you read Catach a Falling Star first. This is not a stand alone story.***

Chapter 1: What Happens Next?

Sesshomaru sat in his dark office, absentmindedly swirling the amber liquid in his brandy snifter. He was not sure how many of the glasses he had knocked back, but he had yet to feel its intoxicating affects. He laughed bitterly. Becoming shamefacedly plastered was just one more thing his demon blood was keeping from him. _Maybe if I switched to some vodka?_ He rose from his chair to search through his liquor cabinet for anything to help dull the pain her decision had caused. Her words continued to tumble through his mind. 'This just won't work. We're too different. I don't want you to watch me die. I won't let you watch me die'. He waited five hundred years to be with her again and now he had lost her once more. He gave up searching and hurled the snifter at the opposite wall.

"What the hell?!" He looked up to see a very startled Inu Yasha standing in the doorway shaking off glass shards.

"Get out," was all he replied. He had successfully evaded his brother for the better part of a week. He didn't want to talk. He did not want to do much of anything.

"No," stated Inu Yasha as he came in and shut the door behind him. "We need to talk."

_A few months earlier:_

Julia sat in the coffee shop waiting for Kagome to show up. She said she was bringing a couple of her friends with her again. Julia shook her head and smiled as she gazed into the paper coffee cup and then raised an eyebrow at the nearly empty vessel. She would need another one before the night was out. Months earlier she told Kagome to call her if she ever needed help with her studies and Kagome had not hesitated to take her up on that offer. Now it appeared that Kagome's grades had improved in both math and English enough for others to notice the change. It was not long before Kagome's girlfriends also wanted in on Kagome's private tutor. The girls had very sweetly offered to pay for Julia's time, but the older woman could never bring herself to charge them. True, after spending a few hours with the lot of them she found the quiet solitude of her apartment to be the most heavenly thing on Earth, but she also enjoyed the time spent with them as well. When they did not have their noses in their books they talked of their high school and gossiped about the girl in the back of the class or the boy who always showed up late. She was always happy to put in her two cents and offer a bit of perspective from an older person's point of view. They were issues she felt like she could deal with and took her mind off her own troubles.

She laughed and shook her head. _And what troubles were those?_ She asked herself that question nearly every day, sometimes twice a day. She loved her job, now that her boss treated her as a valued colleague and not one of his secretaries. The most friends she had ever had in her life resided right here in Tokyo and she saw them all on a fairly regular basis. She was in love with, and love by the most wonderful demon in creation. She sighed. But, that was it right there, the most wonderful demon…

Julia sighed as she remembered the first few weeks of her time with Sesshomaru. It had been utter bliss. The man she had fallen in love with five centuries in the past was there in her present and had waited for her all that time. She was dazzled by the love he showed her and in a haze of joy at seeing many of her friends from the past thriving in her present time. There was rarely a day that went by that she did not leave the office smiling because she knew that Sesshomaru would more than likely be at her apartment waiting for her to get home. And then, one cloudy afternoon, her happy bubble was popped when Kagome told her some wonderful news.

Kagome could not contain herself when she ran into the coffee shop to meet up with Julia for her study session.

"You'll never guess what Inu Yasha just told me," she had blurted out as she pulled out a chair and plopped unceremoniously into it. Julia smiled and shook her head.

"You're right, I'll never guess," she had replied and sipped her coffee calmly.

"At some point during the last five hundred years Myoga revealed to Inu Yasha that because he is a half demon he can choose which form he ultimately wants to be in," she had paused long enough for a breath and then continued, "which means that he and I will be able to grow old together. Isn't that great?" Kagome's smile reached her eyes as she clasped Julia's hand. Julia vigorously nodded her agreement, but Kagome's words had set her mind running at full tilt. Sesshomaru was a full demon. Sesshomaru would still live on for who knew how long. Sesshomaru would have to watch her die. Kagome must have seen something in Julia's eyes because the smile slowly subsided from her face.

"Oh, oh, Julia," Kagome had stumbled over her words, "You and Sesshomaru…I didn't think. I'm so sorry. I was just so happy."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Julia had told her and gave the younger girl's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure there is an answer out there for Sesshomaru and me. Now, let's get to that math. What is it today, trigonometric equations? All the fun of algebra and we get to do trigonometry too!"

Despite her words to Kagome, since that day, Julia could not wrap her head around a life with Sesshomaru that did not involve one of them suffering emotionally from the difference in their species. She would start to feel the strain of growing ever older while he remained beautifully youthful in appearance. He would have to watch her waste away as her human body grew older and frailer. Her chest tightened as she recalled how it felt to watch her mother slip away from her when the cancer took hold of her. Her beautiful vibrant mother gradually became a shell of her former self as the chemotherapy seemed to do more harm than good. Her heart broke as she held her mother's hand in those final hours and she could do nothing but say 'good-bye." While Julia rationally knew that mortality was not the same thing as that horrible disease, it might as well be. It was a forgone conclusion that she would die and, if Sesshomaru stayed true to her, he would be the one watching another loved one slip away. She had seen the sadness in his eyes as he had told her of how Rin's life had turned out. While he smiled as he told Julia about Rin marrying Kohaku and raising many strong children she could see that he still missed his long ago adopted daughter. _How could she put him through that on her account?_

_For that matter, how could she put herself through that?_ The situation was not fair to either of them. The thought had not even occurred to her when she and Sesshomaru were first reunited. He had proposed that they get married immediately. She had laughed thinking he was kidding. Upon discovering that he was serious about it she told him that she thought it would be a good idea to get to know each other better first. After all, he had yet to properly woo her. How unexpectedly wise she had been.

During the weeks since Kagome's announcement, she had not shown any outward indication to Sesshomaru of her inner turmoil. There was nothing to be done about it, so why ruin their rapport. Julia decided that she would spend some time with him and build a lifetime of happy memories while they were both still young and then, she would end it. She felt her own heart break at the thought, but she felt that in the long run it would be less painful for both of them than the unhappy alternative.

"Julia," called three cheerful girls in unison. She looked up to see Kagome and her two friends bouncing towards her table with Inu Yasha in tow.

"Hi girls," replied Julia, "and Inu Yasha?" she added with a grin.

"Kagome said she had to study and if I wanted to spend time with her tonight I had to come study too…so here I am," replied the obviously irritated half-demon.

"Ah," was all Julia said as she turned her attention to the girls as they prattled on about the trivial rumors that she Julia loved. They would get down to business eventually.

Four hours later she unlocked the door to her apartment and let out a huge sigh.

"I don't know why you let Kagome talk you into tutoring her and all of her friends," said a calm voice. She smiled. It was a voice that she recognized, and, from the sound of it, emanated from the general vicinity of the kitchen. "You always come back drained and exhausted."

"I know," she replied and plopped herself on the couch with her head resting on one arm and her legs stretched out across its length. "But, believe it or not I do have a good time…for about the first hour or two…at least." She draped her arm over her eyes and felt him lift her feet so he could put them on his lap as he sat down. She let out a little moan of pleasure and he gently rubbed the souls of her feet. "Oh that's heavenly."

"And what did your devoted tutees have you helping them with tonight?" he asked.

"They are in the process of learning how to prove identities," she answered. "At first I remembered liking them a lot, but then it hit me that the only reason I liked them was that I knew all of the rules to get from point A to point B. I spent a bunch of time just reviewing. Now I've got sines and cosines dancing around in my head."

"Sounds riveting," he stated and then added "Your boss called me today".

"Oh, what did he have to say?" she asked rather sleepily. Her two mochas were definitely starting to wear off.

"He just wanted to let me know that he was personally overseeing the sale of my antiques," she snorted at that statement, but Sesshomaru only continued, "to your American branch and that he was not leaving it in the hands of the female foreigner."

"What?" she shrieked becoming fully aware once more, "that little pompous son-of-a-…oh that just gets on my last nerve. What did you tell him?" She propped herself up on her elbows so she could look at him, but had forgotten that she had neglected to flip on the lights.

"Well," began Sesshomaru as his massage began to travel up her leg, "I thanked him and agreed with his precaution."

"You didn't?!" she cried and left her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Oh yes," he said calmly. "We had quite a lovely chat about how women were over stepping their boundaries and that they should realize that their only place in life is in the home to take care of their husband and raise the childr-" His speech was cut short by the throw pillow she launched in his general direction.

"You're such an ass," she said with a laugh. She heard him chuckle, a sound she dearly loved, and felt him shift so that he lay between the back of the couch and her body.

"I told him that I found Ms. Pierce to be dependable, reliable, intelligent, sensible," he punctuated each word with a kiss to her arm as he inched up her body until his face was above her own, "and I was confident that she would handle the deal without any issues."

"Oh," she said, a little breathless, "really, all that? Did you list any of my other fine qualities?"

"I thought that adding unparalleled beauty and great in bed might bring unwanted attention from your employer," he commented, "otherwise I would have mentioned those as well." Julia smiled and raised her head to plant a soft kiss on his lips, though she could only make out the outline of his face in the weak light from her small living room window she knew exactly where to find his lips.

"You were right not to mention that to my boss," she murmured against his lips, "but I love hearing it." He deepened the kiss and rolled her so that she was now directly under his body. The weariness that hung about her when she walked in the door seemed to slip away as he kissed her. "I'm not so tired anymore," she said with a grin when Sesshomaru's mouth started to migrate down her neck.

"I hoped that would be the case," he stated as he began to unbutton her blouse and kissed still farther down her neck. His kisses ranged down between her breasts towards her navel. Julia let out a little moan of pleasure and arched her back in response. His hands glided up her sides to fully push open her unbuttoned blouse. He slid it off her shoulders as she rose up to meet him and let it fall to the floor. He kissed her again, so soft and tender that another moan bubbled up from her throat. He pushed her neck gently to the side and gently kissed and nipped her neck, his sharp teeth causing her skin to tingle as they grazed her. He made his way to the swell of her breasts pushed high and separated by her favorite purple bra. His tongue traced along the top of its lacy cups. She gasped as he reached the sensitive spot between her breasts. He nipped at her left nipple through her bra while the right one was treated to sensation after sensation from his talented fingers. He shifted, pulling her into an upright position. She wrapped her legs around his hips as she dragged his face to hers for another soul searing kiss. She did not even feel him undo the clasps of her bra, but suddenly it was falling off of her shoulders.

"You are wearing far too many clothes," she breathed into his ear and began un-tucking his now rumpled white shirt from his waist band. Not being as patient with buttons as he was she only got the top two undone before pulling the shirt over his head. His long silver hair came free from the loose tail he had it tied back in. Oh how she loved his hair, she thought. She ran her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck and smiled. "This is a start," she said through her grin, "But I think we can do better." She pushed him back to the couch and put her knees on either side of his hips. She wished she had flipped on a light as she came in. Her eyes had adjusted as much as they were going to in the low light and she still could not see him. So, she ran her fingers lightly over his toned, but not overly muscled, chest to feel what she was unable to take in visually. She let her fingers follow the small line of soft hair that led first to his navel and then continued to the waist line of his slacks. He let out a satisfied growl as she deftly undid his belt and sent it to the floor with the rest of their clothing. But, before she could undo the fly on his pants he rolled and stood with her wrapped about him.

"I think we should relocate," he said as he carried her towards the bedroom. She had taken the opportunity to kiss his neck and bite his earlobe. "We need to get you a more comfortable couch," he commented around a groan of pleasure.

"My couch is just fine," she replied as he laid her back on her bed and began to slide her skirt over her hips. She was pleased that the light coming in through the bedroom window allowed her to see him more clearly.

"Oh?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. She leaned up on her elbows and watched as Sesshomaru slowly pulled her nylons over her hips and down her legs. His fingers seemed to stroke and caress every inch of her thighs and calves.

"Perfectly acceptable for quick cat naps," she continued in a breathy voice. She heard a whisper of fabric that she assumed and hoped were his pants falling to the floor.

"Uh huh," was all he said as he leaned over her and kissed her again.

Later, he collapsed beside her and pulled her close. She smiled, satisfied, and kissed the tip of his nose. She could not remember what sex was like before she was with Sesshomaru. She was not as experienced as modern times seemed to advocate, but surely it was enjoyable before him. She just did not know anymore…and how could she ever give it up? He nuzzled her and pulled her even closer and she forgot to worry about their future.


	2. An Old Friend

Chapter 2: An Old Friend

"Ms. Pierce?" came her secretary's voice over the intercom.

"Yes Toshi, what is it?" she asked while jotting down information about the latest deal she was working on.

"Mr. Kurosawa needs to see you in his office." _Ugh_, thought Julia, _now what did he want?_ She just spent the entire morning in a meeting with him.

"Thank you, Toshi. Let him now I'll be over shortly." She said with much more patience that she felt. Mr. Kurosawa was a nice enough man, but he had a tendency to want to micromanage everything. More than likely he wanted, once again, to go over the proposal for the acquisition and sale of some pieces to a hotel in Chicago. Never mind that they had just spent the last two hours discussing it. Julia straightened her papers and pushed herself away from her desk. As she opened the door to her office she mentally steeled herself for what was to come. She silently wished that the trip over to her boss's office was a bit longer, but rather than drag her feet she took a deep breath and pushed open Mr. Kurosawa's door. The tall, auburn haired man standing beside her boss put a genuine smile on her face. Jim looked as debonair as ever. He was in direct juxtaposition to the balding, squat Mr. Kurosawa.

"Jim," she said warmly and offered her hand. She would have hugged him, but knew it would not be an appropriate greeting in front of Mr. Kurosawa. "What brings you to my side of the world?"

"The Levinworth deal," he replied after a short handshake. He squeezed her hand a little before letting go and winked at her. "The VP wanted me to come over and over see things on this end. The value of the antiques has him a little anxious." Julia glanced at her boss's dour expression and realized that they had been speaking in English. Mr. Kurosawa knew some, but was in no way fluent.

"My apologies sir," Julia said to her boss with a quick language switch. "Mr. Donovan was bringing me up to date with his business here in Japan."

"You will bring Mr. Donovan up to speed on the Levinworth acquisition and give him any assistance he may need."

"Of course sir," replied Julia with a small bow. Julia also recognized the statement as the dismissal it was and motioned Jim towards the door. After Jim made his farewell to Mr. Kurosawa they exited.

"He's a piece of work," commented Jim in a hushed tone. Julia rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Tell me about it," she replied. "For the first few weeks I was here he treated me like I was his personal assistant."

"How did you convince him otherwise?" he asked with a sidelong glance as she ushered him into her office.

"I informed him that if he insisted that I was to not only do the job I was sent here to do, but also do all of his trivial errands he was going to have to put me on his personal payroll," she explained as she shut the door.

"That's my girl," Jim said with wink.

"I've missed you," replied Julia as she opened her arms to hug him. He wrapped her in his arms and squeezed.

"Likewise," he said with a laugh. "So listen, I've already set up a meeting with Mr. Sano to see Levinworth's acquisition, so I've got to run. But, would you have time to catch up tonight? Maybe dinner or drinks?" Julia thought through her schedule.

"I think I will be able to get out of here early enough for dinner," she agreed.

"Great. Would it be alright if I just met you back here, say 6ish?" he asked, and then sheepishly added, "I'm afraid that if you asked me to meet somewhere else I'd never find the place. The last time I came to Japan I wound up circling the same block ten times before I managed to find the restaurant."

"Sure," Julia replied with a laugh, "that sounds like a great idea."

Sesshomaru paced the short distance from wall to window that Julia's apartment allowed. She had called him at work earlier that evening to let him know that she would be going out with one of her American colleagues. He had his attention split between her and a document he was perusing, but she earned all of it when she had told him that "he" would be picking her up from the office. Before Sesshomaru could ask her for more details she had said her good-byes and hung up. She had gone out with colleagues before and had dinner or drinks with clients, but somehow this was different. She sounded genuinely happy to go out with this person. Usually he heard more obligation than enjoyment in her voice when it was purely business. He was rather proud of himself for not giving into his baser instincts and tracking her movements. He had managed to control the twinge of jealousy he felt when her words had penetrated his mind. She continued to refuse to marry him, and with very little explanation as to the reason why. She said that she desired only him, but she had her reasons for not wanting to marry him and that he just needed to trust her on that.

Sesshomaru had thought at first that it may be due to some of Akago's influence still haunting her, but she insisted that was not the case. But, the thought that she did not want to be bound to only him continued to plague him. An image of her clinging to him when they slept swam into him mind and he relaxed slightly. She clearly loved him, he knew that. He just wished he understood why it was she would not commit to him. He heard her keys jingling and her light footsteps as she approached the door to the apartment. His heart leapt a little at her return. He, however, calmly walked into the kitchen to pretend that he had not been impatiently pacing the floor. He poured her a glass of water and casually strolled into the living room with it.

"Oh, thank you," she said delightedly as her eyes lit upon the glass. She put her purse and keys on the small table by the door and slid her briefcase underneath it. She kicked off her shoes as she walked to him and took the glass. He knew she would be thirsty. He could hear the rasp in her breath from climbing the stairs. She had an elevator, but she had stubbornly refused to use it to carry her up the three flights to her apartment. She claimed that it would help keep her young. He smirked at the thought. She quirked a brow at him behind the glass she was chugging and raised a halting finger at him. He grinned and held his tongue. They had had this conversation before and it always ended the same way. She was going to do what she wanted to do. "Thank you," she said again and handed him back the glass. She wandered over to the couch and plopped down. Sesshomaru put the glass on the small kitchen table and turned back to see her patting the cushion next to her. He obliged and took the spot. A second later she was snuggled up against him. He rubbed her exposed arm and kissed the top of her head.

"So, how was your day?" he asked, in what he hoped was a very casual manner. He could smell the other man on her and did not like it.

"It was alright," she replied," actually better than I thought it was going to be."

"Oh?" he prompted.

"Mr. Kurosawa was driving me crazy this morning," she explained, "and called me back into his office a short while later. I thought he was going to want to run through everything again, but it turned out that one of my colleagues from the office in the States had just arrived to work on one of our other high profile acquisitions. Mr. Kurosawa wanted me to help get him up to speed and help him adjust; basically do my job of liaison. I was happy to see it was Jim. He and I have been friends since college. It was really good to spend some time with him tonight."

"An ex-beau?" he asked, trying to keep the chill out of his voice. He was liking the sound of this less and less. His spirits lifted a little when she chuckled.

"Pffft, no," she replied. "We tried to date when we were in college, but we decided we were better friends than lovers. Been friends ever since."

"How long will Jim be in Japan?"

"He said he should only be around for a week," she replied sleepily. "Would you like to meet him?" she asked. "I probably talked his ear off about you tonight, so I'm sure he'd love to meet you." Sesshomaru brightened at the news that he had been a topic of conversation tonight.

"I suppose so," he accepted coolly, "yes. It will be nice to meet one of your American friends." She snuggled into even more if it was possible.

"Good," she stated. "I was hoping you wanted to."

They said their good-byes outside the little restaurant Julia had insisted they try. Julia hugged Jim, something Sesshomaru had come to terms with as she done it every time they met or said good-bye to the man. They had been able to dine with him only a couple of times before he was scheduled to leave for America, and much to Sesshomaru's chagrin he had not minded. Jim Donovan was an interesting man. He completely understood why Julia would maintain a friendship with him.

"Promise me you two will come visit my neck of the woods sometime," he said as he released Julia and held a hand out to Sesshomaru, "It really was a pleasure to meet you," he said. Sesshomaru took his hand and pumped a few times. "It's clear that she is happy with you." He released Sesshomaru's hand and pointed a finger at him. "Don't you hurt her though," he said half seriously.

"Never," replied Sesshomaru as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Alright, you two have been great hosts. Hopefully I'll see you again soon," he called as she got into a taxi, suitcase in hand.

"Have a safe flight," replied Julia with a wave. Sesshomaru guided her over to where his car was waiting for them and opened the door for her. Once she was settled he climbed in beside her.

"To Ms. Pierce's apartment, please," he instructed the driver. He wished it was Friday night so that he could whisk her off to his ancestral home, as had become their habit. However, they had agreed that during the week it made more sense for Julia to be in her apartment for the convenience of getting to and from work. Sesshomaru had toyed with the idea of broaching the subject that she did not have to work, but he knew better. She, as much as she complained about it, enjoyed her career. He would not be doing her any favors by telling her she did not have to do it anymore. At least he knew that much about her, he brooded silently. He had learned more about her past from the stories she and Jim had shared during the past couple of visits than he had since he reunited with her. If he was jealous of anything it was the history that the two of them had shared and how close they appear now. He maintained his human guise until they were inside Julia's apartment and then let it shimmer away. If they were still that close what was stopping her from leaving him and seeking out Jim? She would not marry him after all.

"Hey, are you okay?" he heard her quietly ask. "You were so quiet on the ride home." Sesshoumaru looked at the genuine concern and affection that shown clearly in her face and felt…silly. The very of idea of Julia with someone else turned his insides to ice, but he knew that she would never betray him. He turned his head to avoid her gaze. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek and turned his head back towards her. "Jim and I are just old friends," she said softly, "that's all." She smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He stood staring at her in shock. She could read him so easily now. "Besides, what kind of an idiot would I be to go for a puny human when I've got a demon lord at my beck and call?" The humor in her voice and her crooked smile were too much to resist.

"Oh, I am at your beck and call am I," he replied just as sarcastically, "then what would you say if I carried you off and had my way with you?" With one quick motion he had her up in his arms and was carrying her off to her bedroom.

"You beast," she gasped and then wrapped her arms around his neck. He carefully lowered her down to the bed and then held himself over her, admiring the only woman he had ever fallen in love with.

"Julia, you know I want you to be mine alone," he said huskily, "why not marry me?"

"I am yours, and only yours," she replied in between planting small kisses on his face, "isn't that enough?" Sesshoumaru leaned down and kissed her passionately. _For now, he thought, for now it is enough._ But, they would need to talk seriously about the matter later, _perhaps much later_ he mused as he slipped his shirt over his head and started to ravish her as only a beast like him could.


	3. Make the Most of It

Chapter 3: Make the Most of It

"Hi Kagome." Julia perched her cell phone between her shoulder and neck to listen to Kagome while she continued to enter information into her computer. She had to make sure the translation to English matched the Japanese and so far there were quite a few issues. The girl sounded excited, not quite as excited as she had been when Inu Yasha had surprised her at school several months back, but something definitely had her in a tizzy. Julia smiled, remembering how long it took Kagome to form a coherent sentence when she called to let Julia know that Inu Yasha had found her in the future. Inu Yasha had apparently decided to attend Kagome's school as a transfer student. She had been day dreaming during Algebra when the door to the classroom opened and the principal entered along with a new face. Julia could only imagine the look on Kagome's face when she saw Inu Yasha, as a human, standing at the front of the class wearing her school uniform. The outburst it had caused from her led her teacher to assign her an extra after school cleaning shift, but Kagome had, of course, forgiven Inu Yasha for the shock.

"Wait, I'm sorry, what was that again?" asked Julia as she returned her focus to what Kagome was saying. "Oh wow!" she exclaimed and held the phone more securely to her ear. "Your first choice. That is wonderful." Julia knew how worried Kagome had been about getting accepted to her first choice of college, especially with all the work she had missed during the year she was traveling back and forth between past and present. "Tonight? Yes, sure. Alright, I'll see you at 7. Bye." Julia smiled and hung up her phone. Kagome's mother apparently wanted to cook Kagome a celebratory dinner in honor of getting into her first choice. Julia, and of course Sesshomaru, were invited to join them.

Julia called over to Sesshomaru's office to let him know about her, and by 'her' she of course meant their, dinner plans. He mumbled something about wanting Julia all to himself, but agreed to meet her at her apartment with enough time for them to walk up the hill to the shrine. Julia hung up the receiver and smiled at Sesshomaru's possessiveness. She had been dreadfully busy this week. Mr. Kurosawa had needed her to be present during several meetings with American clients who spoke about as much Japanese and he spoke English. Those meetings had meant late nights trying to finish up the work she needed to get done for her other deals. It was true her company had sent her to Japan to primarily work with Mr. Kurosawa and to make sure acquisitions involving his company went smoothly, but they still had her research and investigate acquisitions outside of Kurosawa's company. The whole of it kept her rather busy, but she loved it. She continued to thank whatever it was that led her company to partner with Kurosawa's.

Unfortunately, that much busy left her with little free time and that was something that Sesshomaru liked to corner the market in. He would share her with their other friends, though somewhat unwillingly, when the occasion called for it. The way that he wanted her, and not just in the bedroom, but all the time, was so amazing. She smiled. _It is a wonderful feeling to be so loved_, she thought as she packed up her belongings. If she hurried she could catch the earlier train. She knew she needed to talk with Sesshomaru about her reasons for not wanting to marry him, but she selfishly did not want what they had together to end yet. She was fully aware the he wished to have the same discussion, but she had been able to distract him so far. Her happy mood was swiftly dissipating. Surely he could see that they could not have an equally full life together. _Why would he want to watch her die?_

The train ride home was, unfortunately, uneventful. It left her with far too much time to think about choices in her life that needed to be made. She was going to need to talk to him about it. There was no other way around it. Otherwise she would start to feel guilty for stringing him along for the last five hundred plus years. She marveled a bit at that thought. _Five hundred years_. She still reeled at the idea that he had waited that long for her. _If only there was some way to make their life spans a little more equal_. She shook her head as she opened the door. _Wouldn't Sesshomaru have told her by now if there was some way for them to live out their lives together? _

She walked quickly to her bedroom in order to find something more comfortable to wear. She was grateful she had been able to catch that earlier train. If gave her the time to change and unwind a little bit before heading up to Kagome's home. She fished out a faded pair of jeans from her bottom drawer and finished the outfit with her most comfortable sweater. It was already starting to get a little cold outside. She turned towards her doorway as she popped her head out of her sweater.

"Aaah," she gasped and clutched her heart as she caught sight of Sesshomaru leaning against her bedroom door frame watching her. "You scared the bageebas out of me," she stated when she got her heart rate under control. "You realized you just took ten years off my life," she commented when he just smiled at her.

"Ready?" he asked. They still had a little time to relax before walking over, but she nodded anyway. This way they could take their time instead of making a forced march up the hill to the shrine.

"Just need to throw on some shoes," she replied as she stooped to put them on. She smiled when she felt him move behind her and place his hands on her hips.

"Or we could arrive late…" he suggested with slight brushing of his pelvis to her bottom. She considered it. Okay, she more than considered it, but knew that Kagome would be crushed if they did not come to her party and if Sesshomaru had his way they would be more than just a little late.

"You are so bad," she chided as she got her other shoe on and turned in him arms. "You get me all to yourself this weekend mister, so we're going to Kagome's party." She finished her declaration with a short kiss on his almost pouting lips. She took his hand in hers and led him out the door.

Since every room in the relatively small house seemed to be taken up by one group of people or another, Julia made her way outside for a little bit of quiet time. She was not adverse to large gatherings, but a little bit of quiet time to recharge oneself before reentering the fray was always prudent. She was only slightly annoyed with herself for forgetting a jacket. The sweater was fine for earlier, but with the sun down she was going to need it. She would just have to cuddle up to Sesshomaru on the walk home.

"You look happy," commented a familiar voice from behind her.

"That's probably because I am happy," she replied and gave Kouga a quick hug. "Life is pretty good right now." The wolf demon leaned against the railing next to her. "I didn't know you and Ayame were coming?"

"Yeah, Ayame was just held up at work," he replied. "I don't know how she does it. Puts up with the students all day and then has to have these parent-teacher meetings…it boggles the mind." He gave a little shutter.

"She must enjoy it on some level, right? Otherwise she wouldn't do it," commented Julia as she leaned against the railing as well.

"True," he stated. "It is the longest running profession she's had in the last five hundred years. Could be her true calling I suppose."

"I'm so glad you two found each other." Julia lightly punched Kouga on his arm. "Five hundred years and you two are still together, how great is that?" Kouga smiled.

"Oh, it hasn't all been sunshine and daisies, but I wouldn't trade her for anyone else," he replied. "But, talk about longevity; I'm impressed that his royal dogness was able to hold out for you. Talk about a commitment." Julia smiled, but it was not genuine and Kouga must have seen it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered, "we're good." He raised an eyebrow at her. "We really are good," she tried again. He just cocked his head and gave her an 'oh really?' look. "I'm going to have to let him go," stated softly.

"Why?"

"Because it just won't work," she explained.

"Why not?"

"It's the same problem as before. I'm human and he is not." She felt the usual tightening around her heart that always occurred when she had to face this fact.

"But he doesn't hate humans; he hasn't for hundreds of years," stated Kouga.

"I know. It's not that..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" Kouga was clearly not going to let the subject drop.

"I don't want to make him watch me die," she said on a sigh. Kouga looked confused, but only for a moment. "I watched my mother fade away as the cancer took her. I know what it is to watch someone I love slowly die and it takes a piece of you with it. Sesshomaru already did that with Rin and countless other people he's loved. How can I put him through that?" Kouga pursed his lips and looked to the stars.

"That is something all long lived beings have to face. Don't you think that he has already thought about that?" asked Kouga. "He has, as you say, been through it all before. He knows what's coming. He has probably already come to terms with the fact." Julia felt tears starting to well up.

"You are right. I know that, but …" she paused and looked up at him. "But, what if I haven't? What if I can't?" Kouga's face softened. "What if I start to resent him for staying young while I age? I don't want to be that person. I might be able to think lofty thoughts about never thinking that now, but what about thirty or forty years from now?"

"Do you love him?" he asked as he wiped a tear from her cheek. She could only nod. "Then just keep on loving him. Thirty or forty years from now is still a human lifetime of memories. Do you want to give that up based on 'what if's?'" She felt her lip quiver and could not stop the tears. Kouga wrapped his arms around her and just held her. _He was right, damn him_. She knew he was right. She would never find someone like Sesshomaru ever again and she had been wasting precious time worrying about those damnable 'what if's'. She got her breathing under control and felt the tears abating.

"I'm okay now, Kouga," she said quietly as she pushed off his chest. "Thank you." She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest as nodded.

Sesshomaru could not put his finger on it, but something about Julia seemed different. It was as if whatever had been hanging over her head these last few weeks was suddenly gone. She snuggled against him as they walked down the street to her apartment. He gave her shoulders a little squeeze and rubbed his hand along her upper arm. He should have thought to remind her to grab her coat.

"Julia," he began, but then paused. He was not actually sure what he wanted to ask.

"Hmmm?" was all the reply he got.

"Is everything…alright?" he finally asked. He felt her draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly. They halted outside the door to her building.

"Going up," she said with a sly smile. He took her meaning and scooped her up into his arms. In two quick bounds they were standing on her third story balcony. Before he could set her on her feet she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. He gently lowered her feet to the ground so that he could wrap his arms around her and deepen the kiss.

"Not that I am complaining," he breathed out, "But, what was that for?" She kissed him one more time and then took a step back.

"A few weeks ago Kagome share some great news with me," she began. Sesshomaru stilled. He thought he knew where this was going. "She told me that Inu Yasha could choose the human side of his nature and they could grow old together. I was so excited for her, but…" she looked up at him. "But, it got me thinking. That is not something you and I will ever have together." He frowned. He had considered that might be what was weighing on her. Inu Yasha had mentioned that he was going to share that news with Kagome.

"Julia, I-." He wanted to explain. He wanted to tell her that if there was a way for him to do the same he would. But, she held a finger to his lips and shook her head slightly.

"When you first asked me to marry you I genuinely believed we should wait," she continued. "We met under extremely uncommon circumstances and I wanted us to be certain. However, once Kagome shared her news I realized that there was a more serious complication to what we have than I originally considered." He wanted to speak, but held his tongue. "I convinced myself that I couldn't let you watch me die. I can still see that sadness in your eyes whenever Rin is brought up," she paused and despite himself he felt a dull ache in his heart that must have shown on his face. She offered him a sad smile. "How can I put you through watching me die as well? How do I cope with getting older while you stay as handsome as you are now?"

"Julia, you-." He tried to speak once more, but she clearly had more to say.

"But, you've already thought that through, haven't you?" she asked him. He nodded and the dull ache in his heart became sharper. "You have already considered that we may only have a few good decades together and you wanted to marry me anyway? You want to put yourself through the pain of losing someone you love?" He nodded again, but had to add something to that. He placed a finger over her lips this time.

"I do not want to go through that pain," he said in a low voice, "but if the choice is pain and getting to spend those few good decades with you or never seeing you again…" he bent his head and whispered against her lips "then I choose the pain." He kissed her then. He put everything he felt for her into that kiss. She needed to understand what she meant to him. He enveloped her in his arms and held her close. "Will you share your life time with me?" he whispered against her ear.

"Yes," she whispered back. "I thought I would be able to pull away from you to save us both, but I realized tonight that I couldn't picture my life after I'd left you." He felt her hug him tighter.

"We will just have to live one day at a time and treasure each one," he replied. He could feel her smile against his chest and then she pushed away from him. She quickly dabbed at her eyes, pinched her cheeks and straightened up her hair.

"Okay, ask me again," she said. He cocked a brow at her in question, but only for a moment before he realized what she was talking about. _If he was going to do this, he was going to do this right_. He made a 'wait right there' gesture and stepped inside her apartment. Once in the kitchen he reached into the cabinet above her refrigerator, a perfect hiding place since she could not reach it, and withdrew a small box. He hurried back to the balcony where she still waited for him. He undid the button on his suit coat and dropped gracefully to one knee. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Julia Marie Pierce," he said and then opened the box, "will you marry me?" Her smile was radiant. She dropped down and threw her arms around him.

"Yes!" she cried, "Oh, yes." He pulled her back and took her left hand in his. He took the two karat diamond circled and banded with diamonds of smaller and varied sizes and slipped it on her ring finger. He gave a small growl at the satisfaction of seeing the ring he had selected a century ago slide perfectly onto her finger. He kissed her hand and then kissed her.

"I do not suppose you would consider making it official tomorrow, would you?" he asked, but knew the answer. She raised an eyebrow at him, but smiled too.

"Not tomorrow," she replied and then quickly added "but soon. We can have something small at the Higurashi temple. Just our close friends and family. I can have my dad and step family flown in from the States." He nodded and stood, pulling her up with him.

"We should celebrate," he stated and scooped her up into his arms once more.

"Oh?"

"Yes, I think we should definitely celebrate...," he said again and slid the door behind him closed with his foot, "in the bedroom." She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck once more.

"I could not agree more." He bent his head and kissed her again as he carried her to the bedroom. He did not know what had happened tonight to make her see that the short time they would have together would be well worth it, but he thanked whoever it was who had a hand in it.

Across the city, in a private residence, Kouga sneezed several times.


	4. He Did What!

Chapter 4: He Did What?

Julia had been on cloud nine for the last week. She had of course called Kagome the very next day to tell her the news. Kagome had insisted they have a coffee date so she could see 'the ring.' She called her father shortly after that to discover when the soonest was that he and the rest of the family could make it to Japan for the wedding. As it turned out, they could all make it happen in a couple of months. Her dad had only sounded slightly surprised by her announcement. Since coming back to the present Julia had made a concerted effort to reconnect with her father and step family. If she had learned anything from watching Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru in the past it was that family needed to stick together. Her dad told her that he would have been more surprised to hear that she had broken up with him. She had grinned at the comment. Her father had of course not met Sesshomaru yet, but the moment she had opened the door to that part of her life he always made it a point to ask about the man in her life.

Using the Higurashi temple was greeted with such enthusiasm by Mrs. Higurashi and Grandpa Higurashi that Julia got the impression that they would have been hurt if she and Sesshomaru wanted to be married elsewhere. She and Mrs. Higurashi talked about catering and renting some tables for the yard. Mrs. Higurashi had offered to do the cooking herself, but Julia would hear none of it. Julia insisted that she should just be able to sit back and enjoy the day as an honored guest.

By the end of the week, the cloud was starting to get a little soggy. She was tired. Between work and planning she could definitely use some decompress time. She called Sesshomaru that afternoon to tell him she would be bringing a good bottle of sake and some of the delicious take-out from the shop-just-outside-her train-stop (she could never remember its name) home. He was in charge of picking out a good movie to veg out to.

When she walked into her apartment the coffee table was already set with napkins and sake cups. The TV was set to the right input and the DVD player was open and waiting. She smiled at him as he came out of the kitchen wearing his suit slacks and shirt. His shirt was open at the neck and the sleeves were rolled up, but he still managed to look the part of the regal lord. He must have only arrived shortly before she did.

"You are wonderful," she stated and set her supplies down on the kitchen table.

"I know," he said and gave her a quick kiss. He grinned and relieved her of her bags.

"I'm going to go slip into something more comfortable," she said with a seductive smile. "Wait right here." When she came out a moment later wearing some cut-off sweatpants and a tank top he looked slightly crestfallen. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Warm or cold?" he asked with a motion to the sake bottle. She usually preferred it warm, but the day had been surprisingly warm and she had been dressed for colder weather. "Cold, I think."

She served herself a plate of food and sat in front of one of the place settings at the coffee table. She knew he would sit on the sofa, but she preferred to sit on the floor and lean against the couch. He set the bottle and cups down and then returned with his own plate of food. He had not always been a fan of take-out and eating in front of the television, but she had convinced him that sometimes…it was just necessary. To her surprise he lowered himself to the floor, slid his long legs under the table and placed his napkin in his lap. The bite of food in her chopsticks only made it halfway to her mouth.

"What?" he asked just as innocently as she had moments ago.

"Huh," was all she said before bringing her bite to her mouth. "So, what did you pick out for us?" she asked around the bite of rice and chicken katsu. He grinned, picked up the remote and pressed play. He must have slipped the DVD in the machine while she was changing. "Seven Samurai?" she questioned.

"I have not seen it yet," he responded. She sucked on the ends of her chopstick.

"This movie has been out for over half a century and you haven't seen it yet?"

"It was on my list of things to do," he replied nonchalantly, "It seemed like this would be a good opportunity. Would you prefer a different movie?" She clearly needed to express what her idea of a good 'Veg'ing' movie was. Something that was inane enough to allow for total brain shutdown. But, she only shook her head and smiled at him.

"Nah, this will be fine." She replied and tucked back into her plate of food. Over three hours of snuggling with Sesshomaru would be worth the bittersweet ending to the movie. She, however, never got to the end of the movie. Sometime after curling up next to Sesshomaru on the couch she must have fallen asleep. "Oh, sorry, about that," she said around a yawn and sat up. She noted the credits were rolling. "So, how did you like it? Worth the wait?" He shifted to look at her.

"It was … entertaining," he replied. She raised an eyebrow.

"I -." She was cut off by her apartment phone ringing. She glanced down at her watch. It was just after elevenp.m. "Probably a wrong number," she commented. "Let the machine get it." The machine clicked on and over the DVD menu screen music she heard her step mother's voice.

"Julia, it Melanie. I'm calling about your dad. He had a heart attack yesterday," her voice cracked, "and hasn't woken up yet." The tears in her step mother's voice were evident at this point. Julia sat in shocked silence, unable to move. "Julia I'm so sorry, just give me a call and" Julia leaped from the couch to answer the phone. Sesshomauru must have shut the television off since all she could hear now was her step mother's voice.

"Hello, Melanie," Julia called into the phone, "What? How? Why? Baseball….a homerun…he did WHAT? But, at his age? I know Mel, I know. Of course I'll fly home. I'll catch the first available flight out in the morning. Mel…thank you." Julia hung up the phone and turned to see Sesshoumaru standing right behind her, ready to hold her. Julia did not even hesitate. She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist and just let the news sink in. He did not say anything, but he did not have to, just being there was all that she needed. "I'll need to book a flight," she said finally finding her voice and releasing her hold on him. She left her head resting against his chest.

"I will do that for you," he stated. "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked as he gently rubbed his palms up and down her shoulders. She thought about it for a moment. It would be great to have him along for comfort, but…

"No, if I have you come with me it is going to feel too much like it's his last chance to meet you. I need to believe that he will wake up and pull through this," she replied softly into his chest. She lifted her head then to look at him. "The first time you meet my father I want it to be when he is healthy and about to walk me down the aisle. I need to get some sleep. Hopefully there will be an early flight to New York."

Sesshoumaru said nothing, only gently led her towards the bed room and lay down beside her. As he held his love his thoughts turned towards the mortality of humans and the fact that someday, and all too soon, he was going to lose her. When he lost Rin he had been comforted by the fact that she had lived a full and happy life and had plenty of children to live on after she was gone. _But, Julia…Julia was different_. He tightened his embrace and breathed deeply. Just because he knew it was eventually going to happen did not make it any easier to deal with.

Once he heard her deep breathing that signaled she had fallen asleep he levered himself up off the bed as carefully as possible and headed to his laptop. He booked her flight to New York, hired a car to meet her and take her where ever she needed to go.

He wished she wanted him to come with her, but he understood her thinking. She needed a reason for her father to make it through this ordeal. He had briefly considered reminding her of his sword that could bring someone back from the dead, but felt that may not be the right mood to set. Her father would have to die first. Not to mention that Sesshomaru had not used the sword in several hundred years. It was too much responsibility to have the power to decide who would live and who should die. No, he had to let this run its natural course and would believe that it would all work out for the best.

The flight to JFK had been lousy. Well, at least the first half from Tokyo to San Francisco had been, but the remaining five hour flight to New York was blissfully uneventful. She had sent her boss an email upon waking and finding that Sesshomaru had handled her travel arrangements the night before. _Boy did she love that man_. Just before she shut her phone off on the plane she noticed that Mr. Kurosawa had written back with instructions to meet with the people in the U.S. branch concerning a recently acquired set of antiquities. Julia spent most of the first leg of the flight reviewing the pieces and the people involved in the deals. However, she regretted the lack of her earphones shortly after their departure. She tried to sleep during the second leg since it would have her getting into New York ridiculously early in the morning…really a sixteen hour time difference was rather heinous. But, she found she was too anxious over seeing her father.

After making her way through customs and reclaiming her suitcase at the baggage claim she made her way to ground transportation. She gave the driver holding a sign with her name on it directions to the Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown. The driver nodded and took her bag. Sesshomaru told her that everything was taken care of and apparently he had meant it.

As the car pulled away from the curb she pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. Her step brother, Joey, asked her to call him instead of Melanie when she arrived. Their father still had not woken up and his mother was not handling it very well. She dialed and waited.

"Hi Joey, it's Julia," she said when he offered a curt greeting.

"Oh, hi Julia," he replied with a markedly friendlier voice. "Sorry, I hadn't programmed your number into my phone yet. How was the flight?"

"It was fine for about the first three hours," she explained, "and then a toddler three rows back burst into tears over some toy and set off a chain reaction of squalling children. It was a good hour before they all quieted down again. But the damage was done. The children spent the rest of flight squealing for one reason or another."

"Oh, that sounds delightful," quipped Joey. Julia smiled. Joey was a good kid. He shared their dad's sense of humor.

"It was an absolute treat," she replied just as sarcastically. "So, I should be to the hospital in about an hour and a half. Right around 11am."

"Are you sure you don't want to stop by the hotel and get some rest first?" he asked. "It doesn't sound like you were able to sleep much on the plane."

"No, I'll be alright. I really want to go see him." She tried to keep the hitch out of her voice, but was not succeeding.

"I think he's going to be fine, sis." Joey clearly heard it too. "Dad's a fighter. He won't let a little heart attack keep him down." She brush away an unshed tear and took a deep breath.

"Thanks, Joey." She was proud of the fact that her voice was steadier. She was the older sister after all. _She should be the strong one, right?_ "Alright, I'll give you a call when I'm about fifteen minutes away. See you soon."

"Later," he replied and hung up the phone. Julia took the phone from her ear and stared down at her display screen. _Her dad would be okay. He just had to be_.

She brought up her messaging screen and typed up a quick message to Sesshomaru. 'Landed safely. Found driver. Headed to hospital. Will call later. Love you.' She stowed her phone away in her purse and leaned her head against the seat back. She cursed small children on airplanes for about the hundredth time that morning and closed her eyes.

"Miss, Miss Pierce." The voice calling her name startled her. She sat bolt upright in the seat. "Pardon me, Miss, but we have arrived." The driver was leaning down through the back door, apologetic look on his face.

"Already?" asked Julia. She was still trying to get her bearings. _Hadn't she just closed her eyes?_

"Yes, Miss. You fell asleep as soon as we left the airport." The driver offered her a hand to help her out of the car. She looked around to make sure everything had made it back into her messenger bag and then took his hand. Her suitcase was already sitting on the curb waiting for her.

"Oh, wow, well thank you," said Julia as she reached into her bag to find a tip for the man.

"No need, Miss. I have been compensated sufficiently," he stated. "When you wish to return to the airport please give this number a call. I will come fetch you." She took the business card he offered.

"Thank you, Mr. Combs," she said with a smile. "I'll do that." The chauffer gave a small bow and then returned to the driver side of the town car. She watched him drive off and then fished her phone out of her bag. She was going to call Joey shortly before she arrived. She wanted to have him park his car in the drop off zone so they could quickly transfer the luggage into it before going into the hospital but, so much for that. No point in calling now. She tucked the phone in her pocket and wheeled the case into the hospital.

After signing in and discovering that her father had been moved out of ICU, which had to be a good sign, she made her way to the fourth floor. Her father's room turned out to be just two doors past the nurses' station. She was somewhat surprised to find it empty but for her father. She figured Melanie or one of her step-sibs would be there. She wheeled her bag over by the window and draped her coat over the second bed in the room. She walked back over to her father's bed side and finally looked at him.

His skin was too pale. The breathing mask obscured most of his face, but she could see small creases around his eyes. _Had they been there the last time she had seen him?_ _How long had it been since they had been in the same room together? A year? More? _They spoke more often these days, but it had been far too long since she had seen him in person.

"Hi, dad," she said in a small voice. She barely recognized it as her own. The last time she had been in a hospital like this she and her father were holding her mom's hands as she slipped away. She fortified herself and then spoke again. "I heard you hit a homerun the other day. I figured something like that definitely deserved a trip home." He did not stir. There was just the steady beeping of the heart monitor and the whoosh of the oxygen tank.

"You know you have to snap out of this, right, dad?" She said as she took his hand. "You have to be able to walk me down the aisle in a couple of months."

"He is so happy for you," said a cool female voice. Julia turned her gaze to the doorway. Melanie and Joey stood there. Melanie's sweet, heart-shaped face was marred by the dark bags under her eyes. Her usually neat, dark hair pulled haphazardly into a messy bun. "After you told him about your engagement he went on and on about how he needed to start learning Japanese so that he could give your soon-to-be-husband a proper greeting." She smiled, but Julia could see tears lining her eyes. She rose and gave her step-mother a hug.

"I'm sure he is going to butcher the language fabulously," she said in a small voice next to Melanie's ear. Melanie let out a laugh and then pulled away, but left her hands on Julia's upper arms.

"Oh, he is doing just that," she replied. "You know your father; he was trying out new phrases on our waiter at Happy Roll and let's just say that your siblings were all squirming in their seats."

"He's started researching Japan too," chimed in Joey, "so not only does he test out his Japanese, but also quizzes anyone he can about the culture." Julia hugged Joey. At eighteen, he stood a good six inches taller than her now. She always thought he looked more like his mother, but she could see more of her father in him as he aged. "Ugh, it's so embarrassing." He shuddered a little to emphasize his embarrassment.

"You hear that dad," said Julia as she turned back to her dad. "Yet one more reason to wake up. You're nowhere near done embarrassing your children." Melanie took her hand and squeezed it. She turned back to Joey. "Sorry I didn't call. I fell asleep on the way over here. The driver woke me when I arrived."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I just took mom down to get her some food," he explained. "Suddenly I'm the responsible one." Melanie patted him on the arm in a 'there-there' gesture. "Seth and Diane are with Aunt Pat, so it's up to me." Staying with Melanie's sister was a good idea. Seth at 15 and Diane at 13 did not need to see their father like this. Julia knew all too well that moments like this had a way of staying with you long after they passed.

"The doctors insist that I don't need to stay with him tonight," commented Melanie, "that he is out of the danger zone and stable."

"I told mom I agree with them," chimed in Joey. "Dad wouldn't want you getting sick over this. The first thing he'll do when he wakes up is ask who won the game."

"Joey is right," added Julia, "about both."

"Are you staying locally?" asked Melanie.

"I booked a room just down the street, yes," answered Julia.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with us?" Melanie had offered a room as soon as Julia had contacted her with her itinerary, but Julia had refused.

"Yes, but thank you," she replied. "I'm sure I will probably be keeping some weird hours and I don't want to bother you all. A sixteen hour time difference is almost enough to ignore, but not quite." Melanie nodded in understanding.

"Well, would you like to join us for dinner tonight?" she asked.

"I would like that."

"Now, why don't we all have a seat and you can tell us more about Japan and that lucky man you are marrying," prompted Melanie and she led Julia to one of the folding chairs in the room. "Perhaps all our gabbing will push your father into waking up so he can tell us to pipe down.

Joey dropped her off at her hotel close to midnight. There was a lot of talking, laughing and sharing of memories. It did feel good to be around family again. Reconnecting with everyone after her return from the past was an absolutely genius notion. Although, she was wishing she took a cab back to her hotel instead of letting Joey drive. Even the traffic in Tokyo and New York City were nothing compared to an eighteen year old with a new driver's license.

After checking in and riding the elevator to the third floor she pushed the door open to her room after only the second try with her electronic key card. She really hated those things. _What was wrong with good old fashioned keys?_ She dumped her suitcase in the closet and kicked off her shoes. All she really wanted to do was to flop on the bed and pass out for twelve hours, but reasoned that she should give Sesshomarua a call. They had exchanged a few text messages throughout the day and she knew he was worried about her. She connected her earpiece and dialed.

"I am surprised you are still awake," he stated instead of offering her a greeting.

"There was a lot of catching up to do," she explained. "I'm getting ready for bed now." With her earpiece in it was easy enough to multitask. "It was really great to see the sibs again."

"How is everyone holding up?" he asked.

"Oh, pretty good I suppose," she replied as she changed into her pajamas. "Melanie is staying strong for her kids and her kids are staying strong for her. There were nothing but happy memories shared at dinner tonight. Everyone is being so positive about the whole situation."

"And, how are you holding up?" he asked, but with a slightly different tone to his voice. She knew he was trying to pry without really prying and she loved him for it.

"I'm okay," she reassured him. "It's different from when my mom was dying of cancer. We knew she was dying. It wasn't a question of if, just when. With dad, there's hope for recovery."

"Were you able to speak with his doctors?"

"I did, but it was what I already knew. If he wakes up in the next couple days then chances are good for a full recovery. If not, then his chances start to decrease."

"If you need anything..." he let the sentence trail off. She knew what he was implying. She had not forgotten about the sword that had brought Rin back to life when she was a child; the sword that had saved Kohaku when he had been at Death's door. It was so tempting to consider it, but what a slippery slope that was. As painful as it would be, it would be best to let the chips fall where they lay.

"I…" she started, "thank you, Sesshormaru." Decision made, she still could not bring herself to say no. "So," she had to change the subject, "tell me about your day while I brush my teeth."

"Shippou found the clan of fox demons in the north whose pranks were getting out of control." She listened to him tell her of how Shippou handled reigning in his kin and gave them their one and only warning to behave or face Sesshomaru. While he did run a regular, garden variety corporation that oversaw many of Japan's larger investments, he also kept a tight fist on the demons who still existed in Japan. He had told her shortly after their reunion of how it had become very clear to demon kind that humans were turning themselves into a force to be reckoned with. Sesshomaru and a few of the other demon leaders came to the conclusion that demons should fade from human history as nothing more than myths and legends in order for the demons to continue to exist. As one might imagine not all of demon kind took kindly to living with humans instead of lording their power over them. A struggle for power began and only after many casualties was it resolved. Sesshomaru, as Lord of the Western lands, become the de facto figure head of the movement and had been keeping the peace ever since.

"Julia?" She had finished brushing her teeth and was laying on the bed listening to his smooth voice recount Shippou's tale. She must have started dozing off.

"I'm here, sorry about that," she replied dreamily. She heard him let out an amused laugh.

"Hang up the phone and get some sleep," he commanded.

"K, love you," she said.

"And I love you, now sleep." She heard the phone click off. She woke up just enough to plug her phone in to charge it and turn off the light. It had been the right decision to call him. Speaking with him calmed her nerves and chased her worries out of her head, at least for tonight.

Julia woke the next morning, if a quarter to noon could be considered morning, and was just stepping out of the shower when she heard her phone ringing.

"Hi Joey," she said cheerfully, "What's up?"

"He's awake, Jules!" he all but shouted into the phone.

"What?! When?!" She found herself doing some shouting of her own.

"Just now," he said in a much lower tone. She could hear a nurse shushing him in the background.

"I'm just about to leave the hotel, see you soon."

She called down to the front desk to order up a taxi and then quickly finished putting herself together. On her way down to the lobby she sent Sesshomaru a text: "He is awake! :)"

Half a world away a demon lord glanced down at his cell phone and gave silent thanks to whatever god Julia believed in, and smiled.


	5. Another Old 'Friend'

Chapter 5: Another Old Friend?

Julia was not surprised when her company's New York office contacted her. She was more surprised that she had been able to spend nearly a week with her family before they did. However, she just could not bring herself to be in a bad mood over it. When she walked into that hospital room and saw her dad's eyes open, saw him joking with Joey and holding Mel's hand, her heart nearly burst with happiness. She had locked eyes with her dad and knew that he was going to pull through this.

With that prospect in mind she just could not let the fact that she was now walking down the halls of her office building in New York get her down. She smiled even wider when she spied Jim coming towards her, all be it with a client, but still a nice surprise. She quickly determined that squealing with joy and sharing her happy news with him would not come off as professional behavior, so she restrained herself.

"Julia, hello," he called once he spotted her. "Mr. Kaeser, this is Ms. Julia Pierce. Julia, this is one of my long time clients Mr. Kaeser."

"Good morning, Mr. Kaeser," replied Julia. "Are you the man behind Kaeser Industries?"

"That is correct, Ms. Pierce," he confirmed. His voice was low and silky. Not quite as fine as Sesshomauru's, but it had a soothing quality, which is why it was strange that it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She judged him to be in his late thirties. He was attractive, though not overly so. His hair was very light, almost white in fact. He appeared friendly enough, but she just could not shake a vibe she was getting from him. Almost as if she should know and…possibly fear him.

"Julia, are you free this evening?" Jim asked. "I'd love to catch up." Julia shook off the feelings of dread and unease and smiled at Jim.

"That would be great, yes." Julia would ask Jim about Mr. Kaeser over dinner. "Well, Mr. Davidson is waiting. I should get going. Give me a call later, Jim. I'm not sure which office they are putting me in to work today." She turned to face Mr. Kaeser. He was smiling at her. "Mr. Kaeser, it was a pleasure to meet you." She thought she would make a clean exit, but she saw his hand rising to hers. So as to not embarrass Jim, she took his hand and shook it.

"The pleasure was all mine, Ms. Pierce, I assure you." The tingle that went up her arm nearly knocked the smile off of her face. But, she managed to maintain it until she had turned and started down the hall. What was that? It was a sensation that she knew she had felt somewhere before, but could not place it. Well, whatever it was, she knew that she would be avoiding all contact with Mr. Kaeser. _Hopefully, his interests did not turn towards Japanese antiquities._

"Why have I not had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Pierce before," asked Mr. Kaeser as he watched her walk away. A smile still played on his lips.

"Ms. Pierce is a liaison with our office in Japan," explained Jim as he gestured for Mr. Kaeser to follow him down the hall. "She is actually only here in the States on some personal business."

"Oh?" he asked, with an air of simple curiosity.

"Hmmm, oh, her father suffered a pretty severe heart attack," Jim informed him.

"What a shame," he commented off handedly. He pulled his phone from his coat pocket and looked down at the blank screen. "It appears that I have to postpone this meeting Mr. Donovan. My assistant tells me there is an urgent matter I must attend to." He tucked his phone back in his pocket as Jim turned to face him.

"Nothing serious I hope," commented Jim.

"Everything in my life is serious, Mr. Donovan," replied Mr. Kaeser and then added with a smile, "but this is just business." Jim nodded, but did not comment. "Please send over the pictures and data of the acquisition and I will look at them when I have a moment this afternoon. Perhaps you would be so kind as to drop by at the end of the day with the appropriate paperwork if one of them piques my interest."

"Of course, Mr. Kaeser, that would be no problem." Jim took his outstretched hand and shook it.

"I'll be in touch." With that, Mr. Kaeser turned and walked back towards the elevator. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his personal assistant. "We are going to have a guest," he stated when his assistant answered, "and much sooner than I had anticipated." He hung up without waiting for a response and smiled. Not the charming smile that he had worn with Mr. Donovan and Ms. Pierce, but one of malevolence mixed with joy. This is going to be fun, he thought as the elevator dinged and opened.

"So no more trouble with the fox demons?" asked Julia as she cleaned up her paperwork from her borrowed desk.

"None," replied Sesshomaru. "But, I did not expect that there would be." She smiled at the tone in his voice. Five hundred years had not changed the fact that he expected obedience from his subjects. He was, after all, the Lord of the Western lands. "How did your first day back at work go?"

"Oh, fine. They just had some materials that they wanted me to review before submitting them to Mr. Kurosawa's office," she explained, "It is something that they would have sent to me first and then I would send them on to him, but since I'm here they were able to speed things along. Oh, I ran into Jim."

"Is he well?" Sesshomaru asked. She could tell by the slight pause before he asked the question that Sesshomaru was refraining from acting jealous.

"He seemed to be. We didn't get a chance to chat much since he was with a client," her voice dropped slightly as she mentioned Jim's client.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing, I think," she stated, "it is just that I got a weird vibe from the guy."

"Weird vibe? What do you mean?" she could tell that she had worried him a little bit, so she did her best to put him at ease.

"Just that I felt like I have encountered him at some point; a little like déjà vu," she explained. "That somewhat unsettling feeling that I've forgotten something important, you know? Anyway, I won't be running into him again anytime soon so it is a moot point."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," she reassured him. "It's fine. Jim has just arrived. We're going to go get some dinner so we can catch up properly. Say 'hi' to Sesshomaru, Jim," she said and faced her cell phone towards Jim.

"Hey man, how is it going?" Jim asked and smiled at Julia. She put her phone back to her ear just in time to hear Sesshomaru mumbling about him making sure that nothing happened to Julia or else.

"He says "hi" back," Julia interpreted. "I'll call you later tonight," she said to Sesshomaru.

"Be careful, Julia," he replied. "Something about your encounter today with that stranger does not feel right."

"I will," she answered, "love you."

"And I you," he replied. She smiled and hung up.

"Ready to go?" she asked Jim as she hefted her messenger bag style brief case and hung it from her shoulder.

"Yep, but, I hope you don't mind," he began and hedged a little, "but I need to drop some paperwork off at a client's office before dinner."

"I don't mind, which client?"

"Mr. Kaeser," Jim answered as he held the door to her office open and ushered her out. "He had to leave shortly after we ran into you, so we didn't have a chance to do any paperwork for the acquisition that he is interested in." Julia paused for a moment before catching up to Jim. _Surely this was just a coincidence_. She would just have to wait in the lobby of the office building. There was absolutely no reason that she needed to accompany Jim all the way in to Mr. Kaeser's office.

It was too bad that cabs were so plentiful in New York. She could have used that as an excuse to hold theirs while Jim ran into Mr. Kaeser's office building. She convinced herself that she was just being a coward as she trailed Jim into the skyscraper. She would wait in lobby amongst the people in the crowded lobby. There was nothing to be worried about.

"He uses the top three floors for his company," Jim explained. "Are you sure you don't want to come up?"

"Positive," she replied. "Now go finish up your work so we can get food. I'm starving." She playfully pushed him into the elevator and waved as the doors closed. The lobby currently featured a collection of sculptures that caught her interest. She wandered over to them and wondered if they were something her firm had helped acquire. Most were modern metallic pieces, so odds were that her company had not had a hand in it, but it was possible that they were branching out.

"What do you think of it?" She knew instantly who was standing behind her. _Why is he down here?_

"It is quite a striking piece," she replied without turning around. "Are they all meant to be viewed as one piece, or are they to be taken individually?"

"You know, I really could not say," he answered as he paused by her side. She turned and smiled at him.

"Mr. Kaeser, how nice to see you again," she gripped the strap of her messenger bag a little tighter. Surely the unease she felt was all in her head. "Jim just went up to your office."

"Did he?" question Mr. Kaeser, "I had hoped to save him the trip up. Although, I am grateful I came down stairs."

"Oh?" she asked, although she was not sure she would like the answer.

"Why, it gave me a chance to see you again," he replied. The corners of his mouth turned up, but she could not really call it a smile. The image tugged at the corners of her mind as something that she should run away from. _But, what was it?_

"Unfortunately, I was just on my way out to the curb to find us a taxi," she explained in what she hoped was an apologetic tone. "We have dinner reservations, so it would be best if we left as soon as Jim comes back down."

"Of course, my dear, I understand," His voice remained calm and his "smile" never faltered. She thought she was free to leave, but was brought up short by his outstretched hand. She debated on the wisdom of shaking that hand, but on the chance that she was just being overly paranoid she could not embarrass Jim. It would be rude not to shake his hand.

"I'm sure we'll have an opportunity to speak again in the future, Mr. Kaeser," she said affably as she shook his hand.

"Oh, I know we will," he affirmed and placed his other hand over their joined hands. Julia looked into his eyes, shocked at the overture. But, then she knew. She had met Mr. Kaeser before…five hundred years before. The child had clearly grown up.

"You?" she questioned softly and felt herself growing faint. _What was happening?_ "How?" She saw him gesture and found herself being supported by a pair of strong arms.

"Take her upstairs. Use my private elevator," he ordered. "I will give Jim your apologies, my dear. We have much to catch up on." This time he did smile. There was no mistaking it, Akago had captured her. _Sesshomaru,_ she thought as she lost consciousness.

Sesshomaru paced his office. Something just was not right. Julia had promised to call that night after having dinner with Jim, but instead all he got was a terse text message saying that she was busy and not to worry. He had tried calling her the following day, but no response. That evening he once again received a brief text telling him not to be so clingy. _Clingy, him?!_ His intercom buzzed.

"Yes?" he shot out and then realized he was misdirecting his irritation. "What is it Ms. Yoshida?" he asked with his usual calm. He was mostly irritated with himself for thinking the worst of Julia and Jim. Even though he denied it he could not lie to himself. He was jealous of the relationship that Julia and Jim shared.

"Ms. Pierce is here to see you, Mr. Yamasaki," replied his secretary. _She is here?! In Japan? When had that happened? _

"Send her in," he replied coolly. He moved to sit behind his desk and picked up the brief he had been reading before he let himself get distracted by thoughts of Julia. _Two could play at the aloof game_. But, when the door opened he could not stop himself from looking up. She neither smiled nor frowned when she saw him. Her face was an emotionless mask. He stood. _Something was wrong_. She motioned at him to remain behind the desk.

"I'm going back to America shortly, but I thought I owed it to you to tell you in person," she began. "Everything became clear when I was in America. This just won't work. We're too different. I don't want you to watch me die," she explained, "I won't let you watch me die."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, though it was a wonder that she could hear him. "I thought we worked through that issue."

"This is my decision," was all she said and turned to leave.

"It is Jim?" he accused and moved to stop her from leaving.

"Please don't touch me," she said before he could lay a finger on her. His hand stilled only centimeters from her shoulder. "Good-bye, Sesshoumaru." She closed the door behind her. Sesshomaru stood staring after her. He wanted to rush after her, but his pride would not let him. _He waited five hundred years for her and this is what it came down to? So be it_. He would not beg her to come back to him. However, that did not mean he was above making others do the groveling for him.


	6. Why Bother?

Chapter 6: Why Bother?

Kagome waited outside Julia's apartment door with Inu Yasha in tow. They had already knocked a couple of times, but Julia had not answered. Inu Yasha swore she was in there though. He could hear her moving around.

"What else did Sesshomaru say?" she asked.

"That was it," replied Inu Yasha. "Just that she said it was over and she was going back to America."

"No reason at all?" she fished. He only shrugged and then focused his attention on the door, which opened a moment later.

"Julia, is everything okay?" asked Kagome as she invited herself into the small apartment.

"Please, come in," offered Julia, but Kagome could hear the sarcasm in the invitation. "Everything is fine," she answered.

"But, you're going back to America, why?" inquired Kagome. Inu Yasha had only come in far enough to allow the door to close behind him and then leaned up against it with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Things change Kagome," replied the older woman, "or rather, some things don't and that is the problem."

"But you two were going to get married," Kagome reminded her. "I thought you two had worked through that." Julia sighed.

"Look, I came to the realization when I was in America that I just can't go through with that," explained Julia. Kagome could not believe the flatness in her friend's voice. It was so emotionless.

"But you love him," continued Kagome. She just could not believe that Julia could walk away from that.

"And now I'm leaving," replied Julia. "That is all I have to say, Kagome. Please leave. I need to finish packing."

"Will you call me later if you need to talk?" asked Kagome as she lingered in the doorway.

"Probably not," replied Julia as she closed the door in Kagome's face.

"Bitch," stated Inu Yasha as he put his hands on Kagome's shoulders and pointed her towards the stairwell. Kagome wiped away her unshed tears and frowned.

"Something is not right, Inu Yasha," she stated softly. "That is not the Julia I know."

"Maybe she's just sad from her dad's illness? She also just broke up with Sesshomaru, you know that girls get crazy over breakups," he reasoned.

"Yes, get crazy, sure, but…that … that was not crazy," commented Kagome, "that was an emotional black hole. Didn't you hear how flat her voice was? Something is not right."

"Well, I can try to talk to Sesshomaru about it, but he didn't sound much different when he called earlier. Maybe she just learned that from him?" Kagome gave him a small smile. She knew Inu Yasha was just trying to cheer her up.

"He won't talk to me," reported Inu Yasha a couple of days later. "Or rather, he won't talk rationally about it." He flopped onto his back on her bed and propped a foot on his bent knee.

"What do you mean?" asked Kagome. She put down her pencil and looked up from her assignment.

"He says there is no point in talking to her about it. She is right. He can't stop being a demon, so what else is there to say," explained Inu Yasha. "He is convinced there is no point in fighting for something when there is no way to change the outcome." Kagome leaned her elbows on the desk and rested her head in her hands.

"So, that's it? There is nothing we can do?" asked Kagome. Inu Yasha fidgeted a little and wondered for the millionth time if he should tell Kagome about Wakana's ring. It would solve the biggest problem that lay between Julia and Sesshomaru, but it was a huge commitment. Wakana had wanted Inu Yasha to be sure of Julia's feelings before revealing it to Sesshomaru. He planned to give it to his brother the night before their wedding, but now…if Julia really was so fickle in her feelings, he could not rationalize revealing its existence to Sesshomaru. He had not seen any indication that she still loved his brother when they had visited her at her apartment days earlier. She really was just distant and cold. A memory danced at the edge of Inu Yasha's brain.

"Kagome, you're convinced that Julia was acting strangely, right?" Kagome turned in her desk chair to look at him.

"Yes, why?" Inu Yasha stared at the ceiling for a long moment before responding.

"Nothin'," he replied and sat up. "Look, I'll try to talk Sesshomaru out of his funk. We'll try to figure something out." Kagome jumped up from her chair and wrapped her arms around Inu Yasha's waist.

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest. "Those two need their happy ending too."

"I know," he agreed. "But, no promises. We both know how stubborn my brother can be." Kagome raised her head to look up at him. He just could not resist. He bent his head and dropped a kiss on her lips. He loved that her cheeks still flushed when he did that. Her kisses were still soft and tentative and he could not get enough of them. He promised himself a long time ago that he was going to wait until she was ready before asking anything more of her. Granted, it was not an easy promise to keep, but he loved her enough to try.

Inu Yasha finally managed to find his brother and what did he get for it? A glass of vodka chucked at his head.

"What the hell?!" he shouted and shook the glass shards off of him.

"Get out," his brother replied tersely.

"No," stated Inu Yasha as he came in and shut the door behind him. "We need to talk." He saw Sesshomaru head towards the intercom on his desk. "I asked Ms. Yoshida to take an early lunch. It's just you and me." Sesshomauru glared at him and then smoothed his features.

"Drink?" he asked as he headed back towards his liquor cabinet.

"I'm good," replied Inu Yasha.

"And what exactly do you feel we need to talk about, little brother?" Sesshomaru asked in harsh tones.

"You need to go after her," stated Inu Yasha. There was no need to specify the 'her.' Sesshomaru closed the liquor cabinet a little harder than necessary.

"We have already discussed that," replied Sesshomaru. "I said no."

"Something wasn't right about the way she left. Can't you see that something must have been wrong?"

"Oh, I know something was wrong," replied Sesshomaru. He picked up his drink and walked back to his cushy office chair. He carefully settled into the chair, put his feet on the desk and took a long drink. "I was wrong."

"What are you talking about?" asked Inu Yasha indignantly.

"I was wrong for her," he stated simply.

"That is bullshit and you know it," retorted Inu Yasha.

"Is it?" Sesshomaru shot back and sat bolt upright in his chair. "I was **wrong ****to**** wait** for five hundred years, I was wrong to give my heart to her, I was wrong to love her...I was wrong to believe that a human could truly be happy with a demon." He stood and slammed his fist into his desk. His eyes had flared red for an instant. Inu Yasha tensed slightly, but did not back down.

"You idiot!" he shouted at his brother. "Of course she was happy. You just had to look at her to know."

"Then why did she leave?!" Sesshomaru shouted back. "She would not even let me touch her, why?"

"I don't know! Why don't you tell me," Inu Yasha spat out. Sesshomaru growled and turned his back to Inu Yasha.

"Everything was fine until she took that trip to America," Sesshomaru stated.

"What happened in America?" Inu Yasha prompted. Sesshomaru had finally brought something useful up. "Think. Something must have happened and if you pull your head out of your ass you could probably figure it out." He saw Sesshomaru's fists clench as his brother turned to face him. Inu Yasha could see the anger in his eyes, but could also plainly read the anguish behind it. He could see Sesshomaru was about to open his mouth to argue with him and then his face went blank. "What?"

"The day before she started acting strangely she said she had a run in with a man who made her feel uncomfortable," explained Sesshomaru. "He was one of her coworker's clients. She said she got an odd feeling of déjà vu from him." Inu Yasha's stomach nearly dropped out. He was starting to suspect he was right.

"When she showed up in your office do you recall anything that seemed off?" urged Inu Yasha. Sesshomaru glared at him. "Other than breaking your heart, I mean." Inu Yasha could almost see his mind working.

"She was still wearing her overcoat. She usually handed it off to Ms. Yoshida for keeping while we met," Sesshomaru said, though it was more to himself. Inu Yasha just let him talk. "There was an odd smell on it, but I ignored it. I was so annoyed with her."

"Was it something familiar?" asked Inu Yasha. "Was something that you've probably not even thought about in, say, five hundred years?" Sesshomaru eyes shot to his.

"Akago," he growled out. "That's why she wouldn't let me touch her," he stated. "Akago was pulling her strings." Sesshomaru started for the door.

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a second." Inu Yasha stepped in front of him and held arms up to block his path.

"Get out of my way!" Sesshomaru growled out. "I have to bring her back to her senses and rip that little twerp to shreds."

"And I'm all for both of those goals," placated Inu Yasha. "But, I need to tell you something first." It was time. Sesshomaru needed to be able to make his own decision about his future. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small box.

Sesshomaru was seething with need to murder Akago and take back his woman. _Why was Inu Yasha standing in his way?_ He raised an eye brow at the box his brother held out to him.

"This is yours," stated Inu Yasha. "Wakana asked me to hold on to it for you."

"Wakana?" questioned Sesshomaru, but he took the offered box.

"Open it," prompted Inu Yasha.

Inside the box lay a ring. A gold band was carefully crafted into a delicate lattice-like configuration and was crowned with two pearls: one white and one silver. Both pearls were nestled in gold vines. He gingerly lifted the beautiful ring from the box, but nearly dropped it when a small image of Wakana rose up from the box.

"Sesshomaru," said the image, "I have lived a long and full life already. So, I have imbued this ring with what is left of my demon energy. This ring will bind the recipient to you so that you will live as one life. As long as one lives, so shall the other. The ring shall also offer the bearer protection in order to protect the life you both share. I hope that you have found the one you love. If it is truly to be Lady Julia, then I want you both to live a happy life together, but choose wisely my lord for this will only work once." The image of Wakana faded away.

"Why did you keep this from me?" Sesshomaru demanded. He carefully put the ring back in the box and put it in his inside coat pocket.

"Wakana made me promise that I would wait," explained Inu Yasha. "She said that she wanted me to make sure that Julia really was the one, you know? That you weren't just lusting after her. The power in that ring is a big deal." Sesshomaru was about to tear into Inu Yasha about letting him make those kinds of decision, but realized that Wakana was right to keep it from him. He had only known Julia for such a short amount of time. It would be madness to think that one could really know someone enough to spend a lifetime with them in that short amount of time. "But, you two were going to marry despite your differences. That convinced me. I was going to give it to you the night before your wedding."

"You did the right thing," conceded Sesshomaru. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to go rescue my bride so that wedding will still happen."

"Hang on a second, big brother." Inu Yasha put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm coming with you. That little pest is going down this time." Sesshomaru smiled.


	7. Finally!

Chapter 7: Finally!

Sesshomaru stepped off the elevator and headed straight for her office. Inu Yasha opted to wait with the car just in case they were both wrong and Sesshomaru was in for a severe tongue lashing. Sesshomaru actually hoped that would be the case. It was better than the thought of her being in Akago's clutches for the last week. But, as he approached her dark office he knew he would not be so lucky. The door was unlocked. He went in, but did not notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Can I help you with something?" Sesshomaru turned. "Oh, Sesshomaru."

"Jim," Sesshomaru said as a greeting. "Where is she?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," replied Jim. "She told the guys upstairs that she needed to be back in the States for a little while so she could be here for her father's recovery and took a leave of absence. She barely said two words to me when she came into the office and I haven't been able to get a hold of her for at least a week. I even tried contacting Melanie, her step-mom, but Melanie says she hasn't seen her either." Sesshomaru leaned back against Julia's desk and crossed his arms over his chest.

"She went dark about a week ago for me too. She mentioned needing some space to think," he lied, "but I became worried. Do you recall anything out of character before she requested the leave?" he asked Jim. Jim thought for a moment and then seemed to hit on something.

"You remember when you and she were on the phone just before we were going to get some dinner last week?" Sesshomura nodded. "Well, I had to drop some materials off at a client's office first, so we stopped by. She waited in the lobby while I went upstairs. But, when I got back down to the lobby I was told that she had an emergency and had to postpone dinner." Jim paused and looked inward. "I didn't really think much of it at the time, with her dad still weak and all, but now that I think about it, why didn't she just text me? What is going on, Sesshomaru?"

"I am not sure yet," Sesshomaru lied again. Getting Jim anymore involved in this matter was not ideal. "Would you mind giving me the address and name of your client? Perhaps someone in the lobby remembers seeing her."

"Why don't I just come with you?" offered Jim as he pulled out his cell phone for the information.

"No," replied Sesshomaru. "If anyone there has any information I will follow it up and let you know what I find." Jim did not look pleased at being left behind. The man really did care about Julia. "She and I need to talk, Jim." Jim's eyebrows rose a little at that, but he nodded and sent the address to Sesshomaru. "You should have an email with the information."

"Thank you, Jim," replied Sesshomaru as he took out his phone and glanced at his inbox. The client's name was Adam Kaeser. His last name meant 'king' in German. That had to be Akago. The child was as full of himself as his sire.

"Sesshomaru?" He glanced back up at Jim. "She is alright, isn't she?" Sesshomaru nodded as he tucked his phone back into his breast suit pocket. "Keep her that way, alright."

Sesshomaru nodded again and headed for the elevator, but decided the stairwell would be faster. He slowed his speed when he reached the lobby. No need to cause a scene. He motioned to Inu Yasha to get back in the car as he approached.

"Success?" he asked.

"No, but another piece of the puzzle was filled in," answered Sesshomaru as he slid in next to Inu Yasha and closed the door. "Driver, 100 Wall Street."

"Akago?"

"I think so. Jim, Julia's coworker, had to drop some information off to him before they had dinner. She disappeared before he came back down to the lobby. He says that is when she started acting odd," explained Sesshomaru.

"How do you want to do this?" asked Inu Yasha.

"We will pay a visit. If Akago is there then he will not be alone," Sesshomaru glanced meaningfully at Inu Yasha. His brother's face split into a wide grin.

"You leave whatever he has to me. You focus on Julia." Sesshomaru nodded. "This could be fun. It's been a while since I got to let loose."

"Just make sure not to let any humans get involved," cautioned Sesshomaru. Inu Yasha nodded, but cracked his knuckles anyway.

The car slowed and stopped. Sesshomaru let himself out of the car and then leaned down to the driver's window while Inu Yasha exited.

"That will be all for now, Mr. Combs," explained Sesshomaru. "I do not know how long we will be. I will call if we need your services later."

"Very good, sir," replied Combs. "And sir," the call made Sesshomaru turn back to the car. "I hope you find Ms. Pierce." Sesshomaru nodded and waved the driver on. _Me too_, he thought as he set his jaw and strode into the building with Inu Yasha in tow.

Julia sat in a small dark room. She sat with her back to a wall with her arms wrapped around her knees. She rested her forehead against the tops of her knees. She hated dark places. _Why couldn't she get out of here? How did she get here in the first place?_ She thought she had heard Sesshomaru calling to her from outside somewhere, and Kagome too. _Did she want to go outside?_ There were so many uncertainties outside. _Her father could be dead? Sesshomaru could turn from her as she aged and decayed?_

"So true, my dear," she heard a voice whisper, "stay in the darkness. You are safer in the darkness."

"I want to be safe," she heard herself say. Yes, that was true. She was safe from the unknown in here. But, but she really did not like dark places. _Why did it have to be so dark?_ She hugged her knees tighter.

_The top floor, of course it was the top floor_. _As if the little brat would want anyone above him. _There was a perfectly ordinary looking waiting room, with a perfectly ordinary looking secretary waiting for them when they stepped off the elevator.

"Good afternoon," greeted Sesshomaru, "We are here to see Mr. Kaeser."

"Of course, sir. He is expecting you. Please go right in," replied the secretary. She gestured to the door on her right. Sesshomaru tossed a questioning look at Inu Yasha and only received a shrug in return.

"We did not have an appointment, how did he know we were coming?" Sesshomaru asked in what he hoped was a just-curious tone of voice. The secretary just motioned behind and above them. A monitor displayed the interior of the elevator they had just stepped out of, along with the other elevators as well.

"Mr. Kaeser does not like surprises," explained the secretary. "Nor does he like being kept waiting. Gentlemen," she encouraged with a wave of her hand towards the door she had indicated earlier. Sesshomaru became aware of the fact that the ordinary looking secretary was not as ordinary as she seemed. He glanced Inu Yasha's way and saw that his brother had come to the same conclusion. _Part of Akago's guard, perhaps?_

Sesshomaru opened the door and stepped inside the large office. At the far side sat Akago, hands steepled in front of him. He noted that the child had grown, but there was no mistaking that smell. To his right, he noted a woman sat diligently typing away on a laptop. Though, older she was unmistakably Kana. To his left he noted another occupied desk. He had to restrain himself from rushing to it. Julia sat behind it and was also diligently typing up something on a laptop.

"Lord Sesshomaru," intoned Akago. His voice was now the deep baritone of an adult and eerily reminiscent of Naraku. "How good of you to join us. And Inu Yasha, you too." Sesshomaru sensed his brother's hackles rise, but knew that he had learned some control and patience over the centuries. Inu Yasha would hold himself in check until Sesshomaru gave the word.

"You have something of mine," Sesshomaru stated. "I want her back."

"Are you sure?" mocked Akago, "Your arrival took longer than I expected. Perhaps you do not actually want her back?" Akago leaned casually back in his chair while tapping the fingers of his left hand lightly on his desk. Sesshomaru ignored his jab. "Please, be my guest. Ask her to come back to you." Akago said with a gesture towards Julia. "But, I do not believe that she wants to go back with you," he finished with a wicked chuckle.

"Inu Yasha, please reacquaint yourself with our old friend," suggested Sesshomaru as he turned towards Julia.

"With pleasure," returned Inu Yasha. Akago merely laughed.

"You think I would keep myself here without aid," he said with a wicked grin and stood. "Ms. Thorn, please come in here." The secretary responded to the summons immediately. She closed the door behind her and stood wide legged waiting for her next command. "Please deal with this trash." The secretary removed her wire rimmed glasses, took a deep breath and then began transform into her oni form. _Definitely not an ordinary secretary_, thought Sesshomaru. Her skin turned red, her legs, arms and torso elongated and burst through the seams of her neat business suit. Horns grew from either side of her forehead. Sesshomaru watched as even during this transformation she rushed Inu Yasha. _He can handle it_, he thought. He turned his attention towards Julia.

"Julia," he said firmly as he approached her desk. She just ignored him and kept right on typing. "Julia, you have got to listen to me." He reached for her hand, but she dodged his touch and stood.

"You can't be here, you need to leave," she replied in a monotone. She did not even glance up at him.

"See Sesshomaru, she does not want you," he heard Akago taunt from his desk. Sesshomaru gritted his teeth.

"Inu Yasha," he called without turning away from Julia. He needed Akago distracted so he could break through his control on Julia.

"On it!" his brother yelled back. A moment later the oni went sailing towards Akago's desk.

"You call being his pet your life," continued Sesshomaru as he advanced on her, "This is what you want to do?!" He could see the corner of her eyes twitch a little, but she continued to back away from his advances. "Julia, I love you. You love me. That is all we need. No matter where you go. I am going to come for you." He reached out for her again, but pulled back as she nearly doubled over and clutched her head between her hands. _Was it working? Was he getting through to her?_

Julia thought she heard someone calling her name. It was still so dark. She could not lift her head. More, she did not want to lift her head. It would make the darkness real. There it was again. Someone called her name. _Sesshomaru? Was he outside the darkness? Was he trying to get to her?_

"No," she heard whispered. "It is safe in the darkness. You want to be safe do you not? You want certainty and security."

"I want…" she heard herself saying. _What did she want? Did she want to be locked up in the darkness? True it was safe, but is that what she wanted? _She raised her head and a pin prick of light pierced her dark prison. _Yes, it was a prison. She was locked up._ The realization washed over and the pin prick of light widened slightly. 'I love you' she heard as if Sesshomaru was standing right next to her. She stood and ran towards the light, but it winked out. Total darkness once more was her only companion. She nearly fell to the floor to once more wrap her arms around her knees and hide herself from it. _Wait, what was she doing? She hated dark places, why would she hide from it in it?_ She needed to get out of here. 'I am going to come for you' she heard his voice again. The light was back and stronger this time. She ran for it.

Sesshomaru knelt down next to her and reached out for her. She tried to avoid his touch, but he was too fast. He caught her face in his hands and made her look at him. Her eyes were…blank. There was no other word for it. _Were they like this when she said good-bye in his office?_ Surely he would have noticed if they were, but he could not remember. He was so mad at her for giving up and running away. He was blinded by jealousy that she could have possibly chosen the easy route and stayed with Jim. He was so stupid, he suddenly realized. Julia was not one to give up or run away. She was not one to betray him. _Such an idiot_, he thought. He wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"I am sorry that I did not come sooner," he whispered in her ear, "but, please, come back to me now."

"Sesshomaru," his heart stopped when he heard her whisper his name, "I can't breathe." He released her but only far enough to see her smile. Sesshomaru grinned and bent his head to take her mouth. He slid his hands back up to her face and deepened the kiss. He felt her arms wrapped around his torso as she returned his kiss. His heart finally started beating again. She was back and she was once again in his arms.

"Sesshomaru!" he heard Inu Yasha yell, "A little help would be nice," Sesshomaru stood, pulling Julia up with him. He watched her face change from confusion to shock as she took in the scene around them. Inu Yasha was busy trying to get to Akago, while the oni secretary was trying to get to Inu Yasha, and Kana just typed on at her desk like nothing was happening.

"What is – " she started to ask, but he knew he did not have the time to explain it properly just now.

"Wait here a moment," he interrupted with a quick kiss on her hand. "I'll explain later." He needed to help Inu Yasha resolve this business.

Sesshomaru took off his suit coat and neatly laid it across the top of the desk where Julia had been seated and calmly walked towards the fracas. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and smiled. This would be fun. Like his brother, it had been a while since he had been able to really let loose. The modern world frowned upon a good demon brawl.

Julia stood and watched as it all played out. What else could she do? She was slowly starting to piece together that she had been kidnapped by Mr. Kae – Akago and had been trapped in her own mind. Sesshomaru had come for her…she let herself smile and revel in the love she had felt when he held her for just a moment before turning her attention once more to the chaos in front of her. It looked like Inu Yasha had been able to damage the red demon pretty badly, but it was relentless in trying to keep Akago safe. Meanwhile, Akago seemed to have picked up some tricks during the last several centuries. He was hurling small blades at Inu Yasha and blocking his attacks with what looked like a fairly solid energy shield. She turned her eyes towards Sesshomaru, just in time to see him blink out of existence and then appear right next to the red demon an instant later. His right hand shot through his opponent's chest. When Sesshomaru's hand emerged it was dripping with a green liquid. From the way the flesh of the demon sizzled Julia figured it must be some kind of poison or acid. However, instead of dropping from the vicious attack, the demon turned its full attention to Sesshomaru and lashed out in blind furry. Sesshomaru effortlessly dodged its wide swings.

Hard as it was, Julia switched her focus to Akago and Inu Yasha. Allowed to give the albino demon his full attention, Inu Yasha was pushing Akago hard. Akago tossed a barrage of small daggers at Inu Yasha. When the pair stopped before launching at each other again she could see that for the most part Inu Yasha was undamaged, though his jacket was never going to be the same. She briefly wondered what had happened to his fire rat garment he was never without in the past. Hopefully he was still wearing some sort of protection.

Her line of sight was blocked as the red demon, or at least part it, went sailing by and landed with a crash against the far wall. The ghastly sight had her backing up a few paces.

"Julia!" she heard Sesshomaru call, but not in time to avoid being grabbed firmly about the neck from behind and dragged against a hard body. Sesshomaru and Inu Yasha stopped short when Akago pressed one of his blades to her throat. She could see blood on his forearm. Inu Yasha had managed to wound him at least. She felt him starting to pry into her mind and soul. She felt herself slipping.

"Yes, my dear, back into the darkness," he breathed hoarsely into her ear. She was vaguely aware of Sesshomaru and Inu Yasha hurling demands and threats at Akago, but they were not penetrating the fog that he was putting her behind. "We are just going to burry you even deeper this time," she heard him whisper, "Nice and safe and mine."

"NO!" her internal voice shouted. "You are not going to shut me away, you little punk." She felt herself pushing through the fog. "You are still the same self-important child you were five hundred years ago." The fog had nearly lifted. "You are still trying to impress your long deceased daddy and become top dog." She opened her eyes and choked out "Not going to happen." She rammed her elbow into his solar plexus, her booted heel slammed down on his instep, she then stepped out of his loosened grip enough to ram the back of her hand into his nose and finished him off with a hard kick to his groin. She was not sure that last kick was going to do anything to him, but she was pleasantly surprised to see him drop to his knees with his hands cupping his crotch.

"Well, that was nicely done," stated Inu Yasha at her right side. She had not heard him approach and jumped slightly.

"Indeed," agreed Sesshomaru from her left. She smiled up at him.

"Do you want to kill him or should I?" asked Inu Yasha. Akago started laughing from his kneeling position on the floor. All three of them turned to look at him.

"Do you honestly think I can be killed so easily?" he mocked. He stood and straightened his tie. "You think I would be fool enough to leave my heart where you could find it do you?" Julia moved closer to Sesshomaru and took his hand. "This is where I escape and you get to be continuously on guard. Always wondering when will I strike next." He laughed and it sent chills down Julia's spine. _What now?_ she wondered. _How were they going to end him without knowing where he hid his heart?_ The prospect of living her life, knowing he was out there was one she would rather not consider.

"This has gone on long enough," said a soft voice. All eyes turned towards Kana, who had finally stopped typing and stepped away from her desk.

"Kana," questioned Akago, "what are you doing?" The soft-spoken woman raised a small ornate mirror from her side. "Kana?!" It began to glow as her other hand reached towards it. Akago screamed in rage and rushed Kana "You stupid, little bitch!" She quickly pulled out a small crystalline object and tossed it to Sesshomaru. He caught it and examined it. Kana did not even so much as blink as Akago suddenly fell to the floor in front of her without another word. Julia looked back to Sesshomaru. A fine crystal dust fell from his hands as he rubbed them together to clean them off.

"Not that we aren't grateful," asked Inu Yasha, who was only steps behind Akago's lifeless body, "but why?"

"We have a business to run," she stated simply. "His childish games were getting in the way. It would waste valuable time to relocate should this fighting continue and I have deadlines to keep." Her voice remained that same soft monotone throughout her explanation. Once finished she turned and headed back to her desk where she answered the telephone. Julia looked into the stunned faces of both Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru and then back at Kana. The slight woman concluded her call and then walked calmly back to them. "I apologize for the inconvenience and will deal with this," she said as she used a small wave of her hand encompassed the scene of carnage that was Akago's office. "If you will excuse me, I need to get back to work." She turned and went back to her desk.

Inu Yasha shrugged and headed for the elevator. Sesshomaru scooped his suit jacket off the desk where he had left it earlier, took Julia's hand once more and followed his brother. No one could think of anything to say while waiting for the elevator to make it to the top floor. Julia was still in shock over Kana's betrayal, but she supposed that Kana must have had quite enough and finally found an opportunity to get out of her strange relationship with Akago. The elevator doors chimed as they opened and the trio climbed on.

Sesshomaru pulled his cellphone out of his suit jacket, after he had settled it back onto his shoulders. He did not show any signs of having just been in a battle. Not a single hair was out of place. _Seriously?! How did he pull that off?_

"Mr. Combs, if you are available, would you please come pick us up?" requested Sesshomaru, "Yes, the same location. Thank you."

"How long was I…gone?" Julia finally asked just as the door to the lobby chimed open.

"Look, I'm going to catch a cab and head to the airport," stated Inu Yasha. "This was fun," he said with firm pat on Sesshomaru's shoulder. "See you two back in Tokyo." He waved at them both and then ran out the front doors. Sesshomaru tucked her arm into his and headed to the door as well, but at a more sedate pace.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Sesshomaru asked softly.

"I was waiting for Jim to come down from meeting with Mr. Kaeser…Akago," she clarified "but, Akago showed up in the lobby. I didn't know it was him at first," she explained. "However, when he took my hand to shake it good-bye the realization washed over me." She grew quiet as they waited for Mr. Combs to open the door to the town car.

"The Plaza, Mr. Combs," directed Sesshomaru as he slid in next to her. Once settled inside, she continued.

"I couldn't move. I couldn't cry out. Nothing. He'd grown so much stronger," she said with a visible shudder.

"Thankfully, he was as arrogant as Naraku," commented Sesshomaru. "It proved to be his downfall." She nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, I remember being locked in a dark room and then nothing after that," she concluded. "What happened?"

"You requested a transfer back to the States, put your apartment up for rent and," he paused and looked her in the eye, "broke my heart." Her hands flew to her lips and her eyes went wide.

"Seriously?!" Her mouth hung open on the word.

"So, to answer to your earlier question," continued Sesshomaru in a calm voice, "it sounds like you were 'gone' for just over a week."

"I broke your heart?" she asked softly. He heard the bewilderment in her voice and was touched that this was the first thing she chose to address.

"You did a damn fine job of it too," he explained, "or I would have come for you sooner. As it was, it took Inu Yasha pointing out the obvious for me to get out of my depression spiral." It stung a little to admit how thoroughly low he sunk in that short time, but he felt he owed her an explanation.

"What did I say?" she asked in the same soft voice.

"It does not matter," he replied, "It was not you who said it."

"But," he caught her face gently between his hands and forced her to look him in the eye.

"But, nothing," he said firmly, "it was not you." He dropped a gentle kiss on her lips. "Do you still love me?" he asked in hushed tones. She nodded. "Do you still wish to marry me?"

"More than anything," she replied, though it sounded like she was holding back tears. She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He thought of the ring that he had tucked safely away. His heart swelled at the thought of being able to continue holding her well beyond her mortal life span. But, he needed to ask her first.

Julia felt the car slow and come to a stop, but could not bring herself to release Sesshomaru. She felt so safe in his arms. She heard the door open and knew that it was time to let go, but Sesshomaru placed her on his lap and then neatly shifted both him and her out of the backseat. She wound up being carried bridal style away from the car.

"Thank you, Mr. Combs," she heard Sesshomaru say, "We will need your services tomorrow as well. I will be in touch." She was starting to feel somewhat silly being carried. She glanced up at his profile. He had a touch of amusement gracing his lips.

"You can put me down now," she commented, "I'm alright."

"But, what if I am not?" he queried. She smiled and hugged him tighter.

"Well, then I guess you'll just have to keep holding me," she replied. He headed for hotel's front door and was assisted by the doorman. Once inside the lobby he headed for the elevator and exited on the 20th floor. He directed her to reach into his breast suit pocket and retrieve his wallet. The door lock buzzed as she held his wallet up to the mechanism. He pushed his way inside and settled them both onto one of the comfortable sofas in the room. "Why do I still feel like there is something hanging over my head?" she asked a moment later. "Like something is still waiting in the shadows to pounce?" She let him tip her face up to his and gratefully accepted his kiss. It did wonders to help banish those fears.

"Akago is gone," he reassured her, "well and truly gone and you have nothing to fear from Kana."

"I know," she agreed, "I must still be reacting to him crawling around in my mind."

"Is there anything I can do to help take your mind off of the experience?" he asked with a crooked smile. She looked up at him coyly. "Perhaps this," he said softly and then kissed gently along the ridge of her ear. "Or maybe this?" he asked again and then traced the path with the tip of tongue. His voice had turned husky and did wonderful things to her insides.

"That is definitely helping," she breathed out. She felt him grin against her neck and then he proceeded to kiss his way down the length of it. His left hand started at her knee and travelled slowly up her thigh. When he reached her collarbone he paused and looked her in the eyes. What she saw there; the love, desire, need, it took her breath away. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. This was the man she would spend her life with. Every precious second of it would be spent loving him and being loved by him.

"Are you sure you do not need to stay in America?" asked Sesshomaru as they climbed into the town car.

"Yes," Julia replied. "I gave Jim a call this morning and apologized for worrying him."

"What did you tell him?" Sesshomaru asked with a raised eyebrow. He had told her last night before they both succumbed to sleep that Jim had told him that Julia had requested a leave of absence so she could aid in helping her father recover, so that she would not worry about her job. But, also that Jim was worried about her. It probably did not helped matters that he had shown up at her office looking for her. Sesshomaru would not apologize for that inconvenience. Without Jim it would have taken far too long to find her.

"I told him that I needed some time to myself," she explained. "That I went up to Bear Mountain State park. Did some hiking and some soul searching. It slipped my mind that Akago had nabbed me right before we were about to go out so I had to do some fast talking to explain that, but I think he accepted the story. My dad is on the mend, so there is no need to hover. Melanie is doing a great job with him."

"And you are sure that you do not wish me to introduce myself while we are here?" he asked again. They discussed it earlier that morning, but he wanted to give her a chance to change her mind.

"Positive," she assured him. "My dad would hate it if he met you while he was convalescing. He'll want to be able to greet you properly and try to intimidate you with a strong hand shake." He grinned and nodded.

"I am sure it will be very strong," he replied. "I shall be understandably impressed." She turned and stretched up to plant a kiss on his lips.

"You better be," she said with a small laugh. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. It was good to be going home.


	8. Happily Ever After?

Chapter 8: Happily Ever After?

"What do you mean you haven't told her yet?" snapped Inu Yasha. Sesshomaru and Julia had been back in Japan for a week now. She had moved into a Tokyo apartment with him since her apartment had been rented out shortly after she vacated it. She continued to work and plan their wedding, which was only a week away at this point. He had ample opportunity to talk to her about Wakana's ring, but he had kept putting it off.

"I just have not found the right moment," he lied.

"What are you talking about? How hard is it to say 'Guess what, you know that part in the ceremony when we agree to love each other for as long as we both shall live? Well, it's going to be a loooooong time.'?" Sesshomaru just arched an eyebrow at him. "Seriously, what is the hold up?" Sesshomaru ignored him and tried to read the document on his desk. "Sesshomaru!" barked Inu Yasha as his hand slapped down on the paper. Sesshomaru growled and pushed up from his chair, palms flat on the desk.

"I am afraid," he barked back. Shocked by the confession, Inu Yasha had taken a step back. "Are you satisfied?" Inu Yasha crossed his arms over his chest and cocked an eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked. Sesshomaru ran a hand through his bangs and then threw his arm down. He turned towards his office window, hands on his hips.

"What if she does not want the ring?" he asked in a low voice.

"What?" Inu Yasha sounded genuinely puzzled.

"She knows that I came to terms with the fact that I was going to have to watch her grow old and die. Her and many more," he paused and turned to look his brother in the eye. Inu Yasha nodded slightly in acknowledgement of the fact that he too would be mortal soon enough. "Is it fair to ask her to do the same?" Inu Yasha flopped down in the chair behind him and rested his ankle on the opposite knee.

"Ah," was all he said.

"Ah, indeed," replied Sesshomaru.

"You know you still need to talk to her, right?" Inu Yasha finally said.

"Yes," agreed Sesshomaru, "I do. But can you blame me for putting it off?" Inu Yasha shook his head and let the issue drop. Of course Sesshomaru knew he needed to talk with Julia about the ring. It was selfish of him to wish for her to always be by his side. He fantasized about just slipping it onto her finger without telling her, but he knew it had to be her choice. She would likely hate him if he took that choice away from her.

Julia stood in garden outside of Sesshomaru's ancestral home on her favorite hillside. Sesshomaru had insisted that they take some time for themselves before her family arrived for the wedding. She could not deny that she needed a little down time. Everything was planned and ready. She had triple checked with all parties and barring an unforeseen disaster, she and Sesshomaru would be married in just a few days. They even planned to tell her family about the fact that she was marrying a demon. She smiled. _How that little bit of news would be taken was anyone's guess._

"I thought I would find you here," said a voice from behind her. Her smile widened and she turned. But, he looked worried about something.

"What's wrong?" she asked as he made his way to her side. She saw him smirk slightly.

"I never thought anyone would be able to read me like you do," he said softly and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Was the drive out here pleasant? I am sorry that I was not able to whisk you away myself."

"Yes, it was fine, but don't change the subject," she replied. "What's wrong?" she asked again. He slid his hands down her arms and took her hands.

"There is nothing wrong," he replied, "but there is something that I need to discuss with you."

"Okay," she said slowly. She had no idea what it could be, but so help her if he was about to call off the wedding she would slay him. There was absolutely no reason he could give that would make up for the amount of stress wedding planning put a person through. He smiled at her and squeezed her hands.

"I…you…we," he dropped his head and took a deep breath. She was not sure she had ever seen him so flummoxed that he could not get out a coherent sentence. She waited patiently for him to find the right words. "What if there was a way for you to live out my life span?" The question was uttered so softly she was not sure she had heard him correctly. He raised his head to look her in the eye. She could see how worried he was about her answer.

"Is there a way?" she asked just as softly. He inclined his head slightly. She felt herself breathe in and everything seemed to pause. She could live her life with him. She would be able to remain a part of her children's lives. She … would become the one who watched her loved ones die. She suddenly understood why he was so worried about this conversation. She breathed out and everything went back into motion. "How?" she asked. He withdrew his hands from hers and reached into his interior coat pocket to retrieve a small box. He opened the lid.

"Inu Yasha told me about this after we realized Akago had taken you. He was going to give it to us as a wedding gift, but thought that knowing about it sooner might help," Sesshomaru explained. The small gold ring glimmered in the half moon light. The pearls looked perfectly spherical in their simple setting.

"What is it?" she asked. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but was afraid to do so.

"Wakana created it from her life energy as a gift for us," he said softly. "She hoped that you and I would find each other and that should we truly love each other, we would be able to spend our lives together." Julia smiled at the thought of the old demonness. "But, it will only work once and it will connect my life to the wearer, so she had Inu Yasha hang on to it until he was certain that we were meant. Wakana was always trying to protect me in her own way." She could hear the affection in his voice and shared in his sadness over the loss of their mutual friend.

She rested her head on his chest and listened to his rapid heartbeat. _Yes,_ she thought, _there would be more loss for both of them, but the difference was that if she accepted Wakana's gift he was not going to have to go through it alone._ She would be there to comfort him and he would be there to comfort her. There would be sadness, but there would also be immense joy.

"Julia?" she heard him ask in a small, uncertain voice. She pulled away from him just enough so that she could place a hand on his cheek and stretch up to kiss him.

"You and me," she whispered against his mouth, "Together." She felt him smile and wrap her in his arms. The air of worry and uncertainty that had been hanging about him earlier evaporated. He swung her about and then kissed her so passionately that she felt her toes curling. She was breathless when he dropped to his knees in front of her. He pulled the ring from its box and held it out to her.

"Julia, my love, my mate," he began, "You are going to take my hand in marriage, but will you be my partner for the rest of my natural life?" She nodded since her throat had closed up. He guided the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand. Once the ring slid home she felt a familiar presence wash over her. Her body hummed with the stored energy and then it seemed to settle inside of her like an old friend. 'Be happy my darlings' she heard whispered on the breeze. She glanced at Sesshomaru. He had heard the whispered words as well and smiled. "You and me," he repeated her words, "Together." She knelt down next to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you," he said softly next to her ear.

"And I you," she replied.


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue:

"What do you mean he is a demon?" asked her father as they stood just inside the Higurashi residence. Her father was trying to glance around the corner of the house to where the ceremony was being held, but she knew he could not see the guests. They, her stepmother and herself, had agreed that this was probably the best time to explain things to her father. Melanie reasoned that if they told him right before the ceremony, he would have less time to analyze it and find a reason to halt the wedding. Slightly estrange or not, her father had always been protective of her.

"Well, not a demon in the sense you're thinking, dad," she tried to explain while fluffing out the train of her dress. "He is not a minion of hell or spawn of Lucifer. It's just the best translation for the Japanese word. I guess you could think of him more as an animal spirit." Melanie and her siblings had taken the news surprisingly well. Her younger siblings asked Sesshomaru so many questions. Even she learned a few things she had not been aware of. Her younger sister, Dianne, had been so taken with his pointed ears, well at least until Inu Yasha had shown up. Then she could not get enough of his soft white ones.

"Are you on drugs?" he queried. Disbelief was evident in his voice. She laughed and hooked her arm in his.

"Only if happiness is a drug," she replied impishly. He just looked askance at her. "Seriously though, he is a good man and you already said you like him. What does it matter that he is a little different? I'm just letting you in on the family secret so that you are not surprised."

"Surprised by what exactly?"

"Well, we have a few unorthodox guests sitting out there," Julia hedged a little, "and I just want you to be prepared for it since we wanted everyone to be comfortable in their own skin." He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "Melanie and the sibs have all met them and approve, so you have nothing worry about."

"What? More demons?" he scoffed.

"Well, yes," she replied. She heard the music change and knew it was just about time to walk down the aisle. "Ready?" she asked her father brightly.

"As I'll ever be," he replied with a small laugh.

They stepped out into the bright evening and followed the small flower lined path that led around to the God Tree. Julia felt her father tense up a little at the sight that greeted him, but to his credit he kept walking. There was really nothing out of the ordinary, except that the guests had refrained from wearing their disguise pins or taking on human guises. Most wore suits or dresses, but there was a smattering of traditional Japanese formal wear as well. Shippou and some of his fox demon kin stood tall on their canine shaped feet and had taken it upon themselves to supply the air with blossoms to float slowly down over the procession. Their fluffy tails swished happily behind them. Koga, Ayame and their children were some of the few wearing traditional clothing, but their tails were just as prominent. She caught the wolf's eyes and smiled at him. He nodded back with a smile of his own, his arm draped around Ayame's shoulders. The large fire-cat stood proudly next to a couple with a small child. The young woman vaguely resembled Sango. The dog demons had stayed in close contact with all of the descendants of their human friends.

Julia's family sat closer towards the front. Their wide excited eyes tried to take everything in. She caught her stepmom's eyes and shared a happy look with her. Neither kidded themselves that Melanie had ever replaced her mother, but they both loved her father and from that love had found friendship. Jim stood next to Joey. Strangely, he had not seemed all that surprised by the idea that Sesshomaru was not human. It had felt good to be able to tell her longtime friend the truth about what had really happened to her. She caught Kagome and Inu Yasha's eyes next. Kagome's eyes were already watering. She followed Inu Yasha's gaze and he turned his head towards the base of the tree. Sesshomaru stood in all his demon glory wearing traditional garb that mimicked the ensemble that he favored centuries ago. His long silver hair wave slightly in the small breeze that carried the blossoms to the front most rows of guests. The purple crescent, the mark of his house, was clearly visible on his forehead. He smiled and reached out a hand. She looked at her father. His surprised had turned into weariness, but she could see that it was derived from the love he felt for her.

"You love her?" asked her father. Sesshomaru nodded. "You will take care of her?" Sesshomaru nodded again. Her father turned to her and kissed her cheek. "Your mother would be so proud of you." Julia felt the tears stinging her eyes, but was determined to make it through without testing her waterproof mascara. Her father transferred her hand from his arm to Sesshomaru's outstretch hand and laid his own hand over theirs. "I give my blessing to this couple," he said softly to the officiant.

Sesshomaru drew her closer to him and they stood facing each other. The officiant began his introduction to the ceremony and the guests took their seats. She smiled at her soon-to-be-husband and thought that as fairytale endings went this one was right up there with Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Sure there were going to be some ups and downs, but they would make the most out of each day they had with the people in their lives, and they would do it together.

The end.


End file.
